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CI^^OYIDOn^,    3Sr.    H.,    1866. 
PROCEEDINGS 

AT  THE 

CENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION, 

ON  WEDNESDAY,  JUNE  13,  1866. 
A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  LEADING  MEN 

Oli^     THE    FIRST    CEIS'TTJUY, 

With    Portraits. 

TOGETHEB  WITH 

OF    THLE    TOWN. 


BY  EDMUND  WHEELER. 


©larenxont,  :Xf.  JQ.: 

PEIITTED   By   THE   CLAEEMONT   MANUFACTUEINQ  COMPANY. 
1867, 


CS\ 


VXv 


It  has  been  the  purpose  of  the  editor  to  gather  up  in  this  volume,  the 
proceedings  at  the  Croydon  Centennial  Celebration  and  embody  them  in  a 
permanent  form,  for  the  benefit  of  all  those  interested  in  the  town — but 
more  especially  the  very  many  who  were  unable  to  be  present — and  for 
after  generations. 

So  far  as  was  within  his  reach  he  has  endeavored  in  the  Sketches  here 
presented  to  give  a  brief  account  of  all  the  leading  men  of  the  town 
during  the  first  century.  He  has  aimed  to  do  equal  justice  to  all,  and  if 
in  any  instance  he  has  done  less  it  was  because  the  requisite  information 
could  not  be  obtained.  And  for  the  same  reason,  doubtless,  many  others 
equally  worthy  of  honorable  mention  have  been  entirely  omitted.  He  can 
only  say  he  has  done  the  best  he  could. 

For  many  of  the  facts  contained  in  the  Historical  portion  of  the  volume, 
especially  the  earlier  ones,  he  is  under  obligations  to  John  Cooper,  Esq., 
who  has  very  kindly  granted  him  a  free  use  of  his  "  Historical  Sketch." 

In  relation  to  the  Illustrations,  he  has  endeavored  to  induce  one  at  least 
of  the  descendants  of  each  of  the  old,  prominent  families  to  represent  his 
race  personally  to  the  next  centennial  through  the  medium  of  a  lithograph. 
And  his  invitation  to  the  one  judged  to  be  the  representative  man  of  the 
family  to  make  the  contribution  has  in  most  instances  been  very  promptly 
and  generously  responded  to.  He  would  have  liked  more  of  the  early 
fathers,  but  unable  to  procure  them  he  has  given  the  sons.  It  is  believed 
that  the  very  considerable  expense  attending  them  will  be  more  than 
repaid  by  the  additional  interest  they  will  impart  to  the  work. 

The  editor  would  here  express  his  obligations  to  the  natives  and  residents 
of  Croydon,  for  the  general  sympathy  and  lively  interest  manifested  in  the 
undertaking  during  its  progress.  May  the  result  of  his  labors  be  the 
means  of  awakening  a  thousand  pleasant  memories. 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION, 

June  13,  1866. 


The  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
Croydon  was  celebrated  on  Wednesday,  June  13,  1866.  It 
was  a  jubilee  long  to  be  remembered  in  the  annals  of 
the  town.  Invitations  had  been  extended  "to  all  the 
natives  and  former  residents  of  the  town  to  be  present  and 
mingle  in  the  festivities  of  the  day."  At  sunrise  the  boom- 
ing of  the  cannon,  planted  on  the  very  spot  where  stood  the 
first  dwelling,  echoing  and  re-echoing  among  the  hills,  and 
the  merry  pealing  of  the  bells  announced  that  the  day  had 
dawned,  summoned  all  to  be  in  readiness,  and  awakened 
anew  in  a  thousand  hearts  a  long  train  of  sweet,  sad  mem- 
ories— joyous  when  they  thought  of  home,  the  unbroken 
circle,  the  innocent  sports  of  childhood,  and  a  mother's  love  ; 
but  sad  when  they  remembered  how  the  destroyer  had  been 
there  and  the  hearts  that  once  made  them  so  welcome  are 
now  still  in  death,  and  the  loved  forms  are  sleeping  in  the 
valley. 

Long  before  the  hour  when  the  exercises  were  announced 
to  commence,  an  immense  throng,  numbering  fully  three 
thousand  persons,  had  assembled.  At  10  o'clock  the  proces- 
sion was  formed  under  the  direction  of  Capt.  Nathan  Hall, 
Chief  Marshal  of  the  day,  and  escorted  by  the  Croydon 
Band,  led  by  Baldwin  Humphrey,  marched  to  the  stand. 


6 

Col.  Otis  Cooper,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  on  calling  the  assembly  to  order  greeted  them 
with  the  following  welcome  speech. 

Mr.  Cooper  said : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  In  behalf  of  the  citizens  of 
Croydon  I  have  the  pleasure  of  bidding  you  all  a  most  hearty 
welcome  to  your  dear  old  native  town.  I  most  cordially 
welcome  you  all  to  these  green  fields,  these  beautiful  valleys, 
these  charming  hills,  and  these  grand  old  mountains.  I 
welcome  you  to  the  churches  where  you  once  worshiped,  the 
school-houses  where  you  were  taught,  and  those  sacred 
inclosures  where  sleep  the  dear,  honored  dead.  I  welcome 
you  to  your  dear  old  homes,  and  especially  do  I  welcome 
you  to  this  old  family  table,  which  has  been  so  liberally 
provided  for  by  the  ladies. 

What  though  the  skies  above  us  are  overcast  with  clouds, 
all  around  us  is  sunshine,  and  warmth,  and  joy.  Let  us 
then  enjoy  the  greeting,  the  hand-clasp,  and  the  interchange 
of  smiles.  Again  I  welcome  you  all  individually  and  col- 
lectively to  all  the  innocent  pleasures  which  this  day  is 
capable  of  affording. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of 
introducing  to  you  the  President  of  the  day,  the  Hon. 
William  P.  Wheeler  of  Keene. 

The  President  on  taking  the  stand  made  the  following 
remarks : 


^^  S^^2f^.^.^L^. 


7 
HON.  WILLIAM  P.  WHEELER  OF  KEENE. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

It  was  a  happy  thought  on  the  part  of  that  portion  of 
the  household  abiding  here  at  home,  to  take  note  of  the 
close  of  the  first  hundred  years  in  our  family  history  ;  and 
to  mark  the  transit  from  the  old  to  the  new  century  by  a 
holiday  at  the  old  homestead.  And  it  was  especially  kind 
and  thoughtful  of  them  to  recall,  on  the  occasion,  those 
members  of  the  Croydon  family  who  from  necessity  or  choice 
have  been  drawn  to  other  fields  of  labor.  That  they  have 
come  with  alacrity  and  in  full  force,  is  sufficiently  evinced 
by  what  we  here  see.  Some  have  come  with  increased 
households  ;  while  others  whom  we  would  gladly  have  wel- 
comed, have  recently  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  an  earth- 
ly summons.  Yet  while  we  grieve  for  those  who  for  the 
present  seem  to  be  lost  to  us,  we  may  mingle  our  congratu- 
lations ;  and  unite  in  commemorating  what  the  first  centu- 
ry has  wrought  for  us. 

We  are  here  to-day  upon  a  stand-point  where  three  gen- 
erations are  to  pass  in  review  before  us.  Their  work  is 
finished,  but  the  lesson  therein  taught,  remains  to  us  and 
to  our  children.  And  this  day  will  not  be  lost  if  our  minds 
are  refreshed,  and  stimulated  to  higher  action  in  the  future, 
by  what  is  most  noble  and  heroic  in  the  past.  The  dead 
century  is  before  us.  Its  history  can  not  be  changed.  Let 
us  listen  reverently  to  its  teachings.     The  living  century  is 


8 

already  beginning  to  unfold.  Who  will  say  that  a  recital 
of  what  was  suffered  and  achieved  by  the  early  fathers  and 
mothers,  may  not  animate  us  with  a  spirit  which  shall  leave 
its  impress  on  another  generation  ?  Let  us  to-day  rekindle 
the  fires  of  patriotism  on  the  altar  of  our  forefathers. 

The  wanderers  have  gathered  at  their  native  home  to- 
day, because  it  was  not  in  their  hearts  to  resist  the  kindly 
summons.  They  are  here  to  renew  ancient  friendships,  to 
listen  again  to  voices  once  familiar  to  them,  and  to  look 
once  more  upon  the  face  of  nature  as  she  greeted  them  in 
childhood.  Here  truly  are  the  streams  and  lakes,  the  hills 
and  valleys  of  our  early  days,  unchanged  by  the  lapse  of 
time.  And  the  grand  old  mountain,  with  its  dark  forests, 
still  looks  down  upon  us  as  of  yore.  Our  country  boasts  of 
mountain  peaks  which  attract  pilgrims  from  distant  lands, 
but  I  have  seen  none  which  can  for  a  moment  compare 
with  the  familiar  one  under  whose  shadow  we  now  stand. 
There  may  be  little  to  attract  to  it  the  eye  of  the  stranger  ; 
but  every  true  son  of  Croydon  can  testify  that  "  the  sacred 
mountains  "  are  those  upon  which  the  eye  was  accustomed 
to  rest  in  childhood. 

The  strong  love  which  involuntarily  attaches  one  to  the 
home  of  his  youth  may  not  be  easy  of  analysis ;  but  it  is  a 
fact  everywhere  existing  and  recognized.  It  is  but  slightly 
dependent  upon  outward  circumstances.  The  humble  cot- 
tage in  the  forest,  or  upon  the  bleak  mountain  side,  has 
attractions  not  surpassed  by  the  lordly  mansions  of  wealth 
and  luxury.  The  place  of  one's  birth  is  not  less  dear  be- 
cause it  is  humble  :  and  the  memory  of  it  is  not  effaced  by 
time  or  worldly  cares.  You  may  immerse  one  in  business 
or  pleasure  until  his  time  and  all  his  waking  thoughts  are 


wholly  absorbed  in  the  present.  Nature  is  still  true  to  her- 
self. There  will  be  moments  in  that  life,  if  at  no  other 
tiipe,  in  his  slumbers,  in  the  quiet  hours  of  night,  when 
the  visions  of  childhood  and  of  the  early  home  will  return. 
Again  the  brothers  and  sisters  are  with  him.  Again  he 
mingles  with  his  youthful  playmates.  He  once  more  hears 
the  voice  of  his  sainted  mother  ;  and  he  is  again  the  gentle 
and  confiding  child,  unspoiled  by  the  follies  and  vices  of 
after-life. 

The  query  has  sometimes  arisen,  what  is  it  that  entitles 
Croydon  to  the  distinction  which  she  has  always  claimed 
among  her  neighbors  ?  What  has  given,  her  the  position 
which  is  generally  conceded  to  her  ?  Her  territory  is  small, 
and  her  soil  in  the  main  unproductive.  Her  inhabitants  are 
few  in  number  ;  and  her  mercantile  and  manufacturing 
interests  are  of  small  account.  Her  religious  privileges  have 
not  been  large,  neither  her  schools  numerous  nor  always  of 
the  highest  order.  Yet  wherever  you  meet  a  Croydon  boy^ 
young  or  old,  you  meet  one  who  is  proud  of  his  native 
town.  I  have  met  them  in  the  crowded  city,  and  far  up 
among  the  sources  of  the  great  rivers  of  this  continent  ; 
yet  in  their  new  homes  I  found  them  the  same  indomitable, 
hard-working  and  well-balanced  men  as  those  who  now 
cultivate  these  hills  and  valleys.  What  then  is  their  true 
claim  to  distinction  ?  It  is  not  that  they  are  men  of  great 
genius  or  extraordinary  acquirements.  A  few  have*  over- 
come the  difficulties  in  their  way,  and  have  obtained  a 
liberal  education  ;  while  others  with  less  school  culture, 
have  found  positions  of  honor  and  usefulness  abroad.  But 
it  is  not  to  these  alone,  or  mainly,  that  the  town  owes  her 
position. 


10 

All  the  sources  of  her  strength  may  not  readily  be  com- 
prehended or  stated.  But  some  of  them  are  sufficiently 
obvious.  In  the  first  place  all  accounts  agree  that  the  ^rst 
settlers  here  were  men  and  women  of  great  nerve  and 
endurance  ;  and  many  of  them  of  unusual  size  and  physical 
strength.  They  found  here  a  soil  and  climate  which  called 
forth  their  best  energies.  They  breathed  a  pure  and  invig- 
orating air.  The  breezes — not  always  warm  or  mild — 
which  swept  the  White  or  Green  Mountains  and  came 
pouring  over  the  rugged  sides  of  our  great  mountain  barrier, 
brought  with  them  health  and  mental  soundness. 

Thus  from  a  noble  ancestry,  early  accustomed  to  struggle 
with  Nature  in  her  sterner  moods,  and  to  take  an  active 
part  in  public  affairs  in  the  stirring  times  in  which  they 
lived,  a  race  of  men  has  been  trained  and  developed  who 
still  uphold  the  honor  and  dignity  of  their  native  town.  As 
we  have  seen  them  in  the  present  generation,  they  have 
appeared  to  be  men,  not  perhaps  in  all  cases  over-devotional 
or  religious,  but  self-reliant  and  ready  for  work  ;  men  of 
integrity  who  could  compete  successfully  with  their  neigh- 
bors or  rivals  in  whatever  business  or  profession  they  were 
engaged.  Many  of  them  still  retain  the  stalwart  forms  of 
their  ancestors.  The  original  types  of  the  Bartons,  Coopers, 
Halls,  Humphreys,  Powers,  Putnams,  Whipples,  and  their 
compeers  of  a  century  ago,  have  not  wholly  disappeared. 
And  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  those  who  assemble  here  at  the 
close  of  another  century  may  find  among  them  the  physical 
and  mental  peculiarities  of  those  who  began  their  work  here 
in  1766. 

As  a  township  Croydon  has,  from  the  beginning,  been  out- 
stripped by  her  more  prosperous  neighbors.     To  say  nothing 


11 

of  other  flourishing  towns  about  us,  Claremont  and  New- 
port, with  their  water-power  and  broad  acres  of  interval, 
have  grown  in  wealth  and  population  until  they  may  look 
upon  this  little  community  as  a  humble  tributary  to  the 
stream  of  their  prosperity.  But  Croydon  points  to  her 
sons  and  daughters — not  supposed  to  be  numerous  until 
to-day — as  the  tower  of  her  strength ;  and  claims  equality 
of  rank. 

We  hope  on  this  occasion  to  hear  something  of  the  history 
of  the  founders  of  this  town ;  and  of  the  later  generations  who 
have  borne  an  honorable  part  in  all  our  great  struggles.  In 
the  war  of  the  revolution  Croydon  sent  her  full  share  of  men 
of  strong  arms  and  resolute  wills,  to  battle  for  independence. 
The  sacrifices  which  were  made  to  achieve  what  we  have 
so  recently  been  called  upon  to  defend — our  national  unity 
and  independence — never  seemed  greater  to  me  than  when, 
as  a  boy,  I  listened  to  the  recitals  of  my  venerable  grand- 
father, Nathaniel  Wheeler,  senior,  of  the  toils  and  privations 
endured  by  him  and  his  companions  in  arms,  and  their 
families,  during  the  dark  days  of  the  revolution.  Truly, 
there  was  no  lack  of  patriotism  on  the  part  of  the  man  who 
could,  at  the  call  of  his  country,  march  to  the  field  of  battle, 
while  he  left  behind  him  in  the  wilderness  his  wife  and 
infant  children,  dependent  upon  the  good  will  of  the  neigh- 
bors to  scare  the  wild  beasts  from  the  cabin  door,  and  to 
cultivate  the  patch  of  cleared  ground  which  was  to  furnish 
the  scanty  supply  of  bread  for  hungry  mouths.  Yet  we  have 
the  concurrent  testimony  of  many,  that  such  instances  were 
not  rare  in  the  early  history  of  this  town. 

In  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain  Croydon  sustained 
her  part  nobly ;  and  I  count  it  a  thing  to  be  proud  of,  that 


12 

when  a  call  was  made  upon  the  town  for  soldiers,  tlie  pro- 
ceedings commenced  for  a  draft  were  at  once  set  aside  by 
the  voluntary  enlistment  of  its  citizens  ;  and  that  the  first 
man  to  ofier  himself  as  a  private  soldier  for  the  service,  was 
Nathaniel  Wheeler,  jr.,  then  holding  a  high  commission  in 
the  State  militia.  And  in  the  terrible  ordeal  through  which 
our  beloved  country  has  just  passed,  and  from  which  she  is 
rising,  purified,  we  trust,  as  by  fire,  it  was  not  inappropriate 
that  a  later  descendant  of  the  same  family  should  surrender 
up  his  life,  far  from  kindred  and  home,  at  the  call  of  his 
country.  But  the  history  of  one  family  is  the  history  of 
many  ;  and  I  would  not  give  an  undue  prominence  to  the 
services  of  one,  while  so  many  family  records  have  been 
illuminated  by  the  noble  deeds  of  more  than  one  generation. 
Let  us,  at  the  risk  of  being  egotistic,  tell  what  we  know  of  our 
fathers  that  is  worthy  of  record  ;  what  we  are  doing  or 
striving  for  ourselves,  and  what  we  hope  of  our  children. 
Then  will  this  be  a  day  long  to  be  remembered  by  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  Croydon, 

A  very  able  and  appropriate  prayer  was  then  offered  by 
Rev.  Luther  J.  Fletcher  of  Maine, 

The  following  Greeting  Hymn,  written  for  the  occasion 
by  Lizzie  P.  Harding  of  Croydon,  was  sung  by  the  Glee 
Club,  led  by  Capt.  E.  Darwin  Comings  : 


13 
GREETING   HYMN. 


We  ■welcome  thee  1  we  welcome  thee 

Who  long  from  us  have  strayed, 
With  joy  we  grasp  the  hand  where  oft 

In  childhood  thou  hast  played. 

Our  granite  hills  unchanged  shall  stand, 

Though  distant  j^e  may  roam  ; 
Like  them  our  hearts  remain  as  true, 

And  kindly  greet  thee  home. 

But  there  are  voices,  hushed  in  death, 

Whose  tones  in  other  years 
Rang  out  with  friendship's  sweetest  notes 

Upon  our  ravished  ears. 

• 
Behold  them  !  bending  from  the  skies 

To  watch  thy  coming  feet, 
List'ning  to  catch  our  song  of  joy, 

With  memory's  incense  sweet. 

Great  God  !  guide  thou  our  wandering  steps, 

To  reach  that  blissful  shore. 
Where  loved  ones  wait,  with  star-gemmed  crowns, 

To  greet  us  evermore. 

Then  welcome,  welcome  dearest  friends, 

Who  from  us  long  have  strayed, 
With  joy  we  clasp  thy  hand  where  oft 

In  childhood  thou  hast  played. 


The  President. — I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  one  great 
attraction  whicli  has  brought  you  here  to-day.  You  have 
come  to  hsten  to  one  who  is  everywhere  heard  with  pleasure 
and  nowhere  with  more  pride  and  satisfaction  than  here  in 
his  native  town  ;  whose  presence  always  calls  forth  love  and 
admiration,  and  whose  eloquent  words  and  blameless  life 
have  exerted  an  influence  which  has  been  felt  in  a  circle 
wider  than  has  been  reached  by  any  other  son  of  Croydon. 
The  Rev.  Baron  Stow,  of  Boston,  who  will  now  address 
you,  needs  no  introduction  to  this  audience. 


u 

BY  BARON  STOW,  D.  D.,  OF  BOSTON.* 


Hugh  Miller  of  Scotland,  says,  "  The  mind  of  every  man 
has  its  picture-gallery — scenes  of  beauty,  or  magnificence, 
or  quiet  comfort  stamped  upon  bis  memory."  And  he 
might  have  added,  that  often  a  very  small  thing,  or  a  very 
trivial  incident,  will  serve  as  a  key  to  open  that  gallery,  and 
let  in  the  light  qf  day  upon  long  darkened  reminiscences. 

Seven  years  ago  about  this  time,  I  was  in  the  heart  of 
Europe,  in  Munich,  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Bavaria, 
One  bright,  cloudless  afternoon,  wearied  with  sight-seeing, 
I  walked  into  the  country,  partly  for  physical  refreshment, 
and  partly  that  I  might  turn  away  from  the  works  of 
human  art,  splendid  and  beautiful  as  they  were,  and  con- 
template the  richer  beauties  and  glories  of  Nature.  The 
air  was  balmy  and  charged  with  perfume  from  fields  and 
gardens  in  full  bloom.  When  far  enough  away,  I  ascended 
a  knoll  and  turned  to  view  the  landscape.  It  was  one  of 
the  loveliest.  Away  at  my  right,  on  the  slope  of  a  ridge, 
was  the  famous  national  monument,  the  colossal  statue  of 
Bavaria,  towering  with  its  pedestal  one  hundred  feet  from 
the  ground.  Towards  my  left  was  the  city,  the  gem  of 
continental  Europe.  In  front  along  the  south  loomed  up 
the  serrated  range  of  the  Tyrolese  Alps,  snow-clad,  and 
glittering  in  the  sunlight  like  burnished  silver.  The  whole 
scene  was  one  of  blended  beauty  and  grandeur.     There  was 


♦Owing  to  the  rain  that  greatly  incommoded  the  larger  part  of  the  audience,  considerable 
portions  of  the  Address,  as  now  published,  were  necessarily  omitted  in  the  dellTery. 


/di:Zy^  <5rz<..V^2r^^t^ 


15 

much  to  remind  me  of  God,  and  awaken  feelings  of  adora- 
tion. 

But  soon  a  very  small  otaect  changed,  suddenly  and  com- 
pletely, the  current  of  thought,  and  set  it  running  in  a  new 
direction.  Seated  on  the  turf,  I  noticed  at  my  feet  a  flower 
which  I  had  familiarly  known,  in  my  early  childhood,  as 
"  yellow  weed"  or  "butter  cup."  I  remembered  when  the 
fields  of  my  native  town,  in  the  month  of  June,  were  golden 
with  its  bloom,  and  how  the  farmers  classed  it  with  the 
"  hard-hack"  and  the  "  Canada  thistle,"  as  a  nuisance  not 
easily  abated.  I  had  learned  to  regard  it  as  a  pest,  but 
there,  in  the  outskirts  of  Munich,  I  did  not  dislike  it ;  I 
hailed  it  as  an  old  acquaintance  ;  my  heart  sprang  towards 
it ;  I  read  "  Croydon"  on  its  every  petal ;  it  was  suggestive 
of  a  hundred  fold  more  than  I  can  now  tell.  In  space,  I 
was  instantly  transported  nearly  five  thousand  miles  west- 
ward to  my  New  Hampshire  home,  five  degrees  more  south- 
ward than  Munich,  yet  colder  in  climate- and  more  rugged 
in  scenery.  In  time,  I  was  taken  back  nearly  sixty  years, 
and  looking  at  things  as  they  were  when  Thomas  Jefferson 
was  President  of  the  United  States,  and  our  Government 
was  quarreling,  diplomatically,  with  England  about  Orders 
in  Council,  embargoes,  and  non-intercourse  laws  ;  and  when 
Napoleon  L  at  the  zenith  of  his  power,  had  the  sympathy 
of  all  in  our  country  who  wished  to  see  the  British  Lion 
humbled  ;  and  when  party  spirit  in  New  Hampshire,  Croy- 
don not  excepted,  was  at  fever  heat.  How  vivid,  how 
minute,  were  my  recollections  all  revived  by  the  suggestive- 
ness  of  that  little,  unpretentious  flower  !  I  stood,  once 
more  a  boy  of  seven  years,  in  that  semicircle  of  high  hills, 
sweeping  round  from  north-east  to  south-west,  with  slopes 


16 

partly  wooded  and  partly  dotted  with  small  rocky  farms, 
and  within  which  lay,  not  indeed  a  prairie,  but  an  undulat- 
ing plain,  having  in  its  center^  dark  forest,  the  haunt  of 
night-prowling  animals,  the  terror  of  the  cornfield,  the  hen- 
roost and  the  sheepfold.  Around  that  forest  were  cultivated 
farms,  not  very  productive,  but  yielding  to  industry  and 
economy  support  for  a  hardy  yeomanry,  not  then  disturbed 
by  visions  of  better  acres  in  the  opening  West,  Had  I 
actually  been  at  the  old  homestead  of  Peter  Stow,  near  the 
western  border  of  that  black  forest,  hardly  could  I  have  seen 
more  distinctly  the  outline  and  the  filling  up  of  that  semi- 
circle, with  its  encompassing  hills,  than  I  then  beheld  them 
in  the  "picture-gallery"  of  the  mind.  What  then  to  me 
were  the  magnificent  Alps  with  their  lofty  peaks  and  deep 
gorges,  and  their  thundering  avalanches  ?  I  .had  before  me 
"  Croydon  Mountain,"  identified  in  the  memories  of  child- 
hood with  my  first  ideas  of  elevation  and  greatness,  and  of 
isolation  from  all  that  was  beyond,  a  barrier  separating 
me,  not  from  classic  Italy,  but  from  far  ofi"  Cornish  and 
Grantham. 

It  was  midsummer  in  the  memory,  and  the  warm  blue 
sky  was  flecked  with  detached  clouds  that  dappled  with 
shade  the  sunny  landscape.  The  shadows  of  those  clouds, 
moved  by  the  lightest,  softest  winds,  as  they  passed  down 
the  mountain  side  and  crossed  the  plain ;  and  the  grass  and 
grain  waving  in  gentle  undulations  ;  and  the  smoke  curling 
aslant  from  the  chimneys  of  farm-houses — all  these  had 
given  me,  notwithstanding  Dr.  Darwin's  theory,  my  original 
impressions  of  natural  beauty.  Herds  and  flocks  were  graz- 
ing quietly  in  rocky  pastures.  The  atmosphere  was  loaded 
with  fragrance  from  clover  blossoms,  white  and  red,  sweeter 


17 

than  any  perfume  from  Araby  the  Blest.  No  sounds  fell 
upon  the  ear  but  the  music  of  birds,  or  the  hum  of  insects, 
or,  at  the  hour  of  twelve,  the  housewife's  horn  calling  the 
hungry  "  men  folks"  from  the  field  of  toil  to  her  prepared 
table  ;  or,  at  night-fall,  the  hoarse  cry  of  the  night  hawk  and 
the  inimitable  hoot  of  the  "  boding  owl,"  both  relieved  by 
the  plaintive  notes  of  the  hidden  whip-poor-will.  And  that 
house  of  my  nativity,  as  innocent  of  paint  as  a  Croydon 
maiden's  face,  very  small,  quite  rustic,  with  few  con- 
veniences, yet  the  palace  of  an  independent  lord  and  his 
wife  and  four  children — how  particular  were  my  recollections 
of  its  exact  structure,  gable-end  to  the  street ;  of  its  every 
apartment,  every  article  of  furniture,  every  fireplace,  door, 
window,  stairway  ;  of  the  floor  and  ceiling  ;  of  the  cupboard 
and  dresser ;  of 

"  The  family  Bible  that  lay  on  the  stand ;" 

yes,  and  especially  of  all  the  inmates,  the  permanent  and 
the  occasional  ! 

"Fond  Memory,  to  her  duty  true, 

Brings  back  their  faded  forms  to  view ; 

How  lifelike,  through  the  mist  of  years. 

Each  well-remembered  face  appears!"  • 

There  was  on  the  one  side  the  wood  shed,  in  one  part  of 
which  was  the  platform  for  spinning,  quilling,  warping, 
weaving,  with  all  the  implements  of  domestic  manufactur- 
ing. On  the  other,  through  "  the  stoop,"  was  the  well, 
with  "crotch," and  "sweep,"  and  "pole,"  and  "curb,"  and 
"old  oaken  bucket,"  and  crystal  water  of  arctic  coolness. 
There  was  the  garden,  inclosed  by  a  stone  wall,  with  its 
fringe  of  currant  bushes,  and  a  thrifty  nursery,  and  patches 
of  vegetables,  and  in  the  center  the  large  granite  boulder 
smothered  with  roses.     In  the  roadway  was  a  still  larger 


18 

boulder,  the  "  pulpit  rock"  of  the  future  preacher.  A  little 
further  down  was  a  brook  where  cousins  of  two  families  met 
and  childishly  sported.  In  front  of  the  house  was  a  row  of 
Lombardy  poplars,  tall  and  luxuriant,  never  cropped  for  fagots 
as  I  have  seen  them  on  their  native  plains  in  Northern  Italy. 
In  the  rear  was  the  apple  orchard,  laden  with  unripened, 
and  therefore,  forbidden,  fruit.  At  a  suitable  distance  were 
the  bams  for  the  storage  of  farm  products,  and  for  the 
housing  of  "  stock."  At  the  foot  of  a  small  declivity  near 
by  was  a  swamp  in  which  frogs,  at  certain  seasons,  gave 
free  concerts — batrachian  types  of  certain  classes  of  my  own 
species  whom  I  have  everywhere  met — peepers  and  croakers. 
The  dwellings  to  be  seen  from  that  memorable  stand-point 
were  few,  some  of  them  hung  on  the  sides  of  the  ragged 
hills,  far  apart,  and,  but  for  domestic  aflfections,  isolated 
and  lonely.  I  remembered  not  only  the  homes,  but  the 
faces  and  the  employments  and  the  habits  and  the  tempera- 
ments and  the  reputed  characters  of  all  the  neighbors 
within  the  circle  of  a  mile  radius.  I  remembered  the  low, 
flat-roofed  school-house  of  the  district,  hidden  in  a  small 
forest  nook,  fringed  with  birches  and  briars  ;  and  the  names 
and  faces  of  my  teachers — Grod  bless  their  precious  mem- 
ories— and  the  name  and  face  of  every  fellow-pupil.  I 
remembered  nearly  all  the  roads  and  farms  in  the  town,  and 
most  of  the  residences  of  the  nine  hundred  inhabitants,  and 
such  family  names  as  Metcalf,  Wakefield,  Stow,  Ward, 
Fletcher,  Town,  Smart,  Carpenter,  Rawson,  Straight, 
Powers,  Goldthwait,  Marsh,  Frye,  Darling,  Thresher, 
Walker,  Ames,  Winter,  Barton,  Carroll,  Putnam,  Stock- 
well,  Emery,  Reed,  Cutting,  Loverin,  Eggleston,  Blan- 
chard,  Jacobs,  Hagar,  Wheeler,  Crosby,  Eastman,  Dwinnell, 


19 

Breck,  Hall,  Kempton,  Whipple,  Ferrin,  Nelson,  Partridge, 
Cooper,  Paul,  Newell,  Kider,  Melendy,  Haven,  Durkee, 
Humphrey,  Clement,  Sanger  ;  and  of  some  of  these  names 
several  families.  I  remembered  how  common  it  was  to 
reduce  discriminating  names  to  convenient,  familiar  mono- 
syllables, as  Sam,  Ben,  Jock,  Tim,  Joe,  Bije,  Ned,  Jake, 
Jim,  Pete,  Sol,  Nat,  Tom,  Nate,  Steve,  Dave,  Josh,  Zeke, 
Lem,  Bias,  Bill,  Keub,  Mose,  Frank ;  but  I  did  not  recall  one 
Sammie,  or  Bennie,  or  Eddie,  or  Willie,  or  Johnnie,  or 
Charlie,  or  Freddie,  or  Joey,  >or  Jamie,  or  Frankie  or 
Greorgie,  or  Hezzie.  Among  the  girls,  not  then  styled 
young  ladies,  were  Patty,  Judy,  Tempe,  Speedy,  Peggy, 
Nabby,-  Lize,  Sukey,  Viney,  Milly,  Betsey,  Fanny,  Prudy, 
Roxy,  Sally,  Polly,  Cindy,  Listy,  Jinny ;  but  not,  as  I 
recollect,  one  Hattie,  or  Susie,  or  Nannie,  or  Josie,  or 
Bessie,  or  Lillie,  or  Addie,  or  Tillie,  or  Celestie,  or  Lulu,  or 
Katie,  or  Minnie,  or  Rosie,  or  Libbie,  or  Maggie  or  Carrie. 
Couples  were  married  by  priest  Haven,  not  as  gentlemen 
and  ladies,  but  as  men  and  women.  Father  was  not  ''  pa" 
or  "  papa,"  but  quite  generally  "  dad"  or  "daddy."  Mother 
was  not  "ma,"  but  "  mammy."  Brother  was  not  "bubby," 
or  sister  "sissy."  The  modern  refinements  in  nomenclature 
and  terms  of  endearment  had  not  then  reached  so  far  as 
Croydon.  Are  they  now  here  ?  If  they  are,  do  you  count 
them  improvements  ?  Do  they  convey  more  heart  than  the 
old  styles  of  familiar  address  ? 

I  remembered  the  June  training,  and  the  one  Croydon 
company  of  militia  ;  and  the  muster  days,  and  the  thirty- 
first  regiment,  and  its  field  officers,  and  its  "  troopers,"  and 
"  Springfield  grenadiers,"  and  its  regimental  flag,  and  its 
sham  fights,  brave  and  bloodless.    I  remembered  the  town 


20 

meetings,  and  the  spelling  schools,  and  the  squirrel  hunts, 
and  the  working  on  the 'highways,  and  the  house-warmings, 
and  the  huskings  and  the  quiltings — not  all  yet  as  I  am 
told,  quite  obsolete  institutions.  And  I  remembered  the 
one  house  of  Christian  worship,  and  also  the  one  tavern  and 
two  stores,  the  one  carding  machine  and  here  and  there  a 
smithery,  the  one  tannery  and  a  few  grist  and  saw-mills. 
But  I  remembered  no  lawyer  or  sheriff — no  law  officers  but 
two  justices  of  the  peace  and  the  tything-men,  the  latter 
the  special  terror  of  Sabbath-desecrating  boys.  Some  of 
you,  like  myself,  may  recollect  those  keen-eyed  detectives, 
Samuel  Metcalf  and  Sherman  Cooper. 
I  remembered  the  burial  place,  "  God's  Acre,"        , 

•'Where  the  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep  ;" 

imperfectly  inclosed,  showing  little  of  the  hand  of  care, 
overgrown  with  mullens  and  briers,  and  far  more  repulsive 
than  attractive.  There  were  grassy  mounds  and  significant 
hollows,  and  an  occasional  headstone  of  blue  slate,  but  not 
one  of  marble  ;  and  fresh  in  my  memory  were  names  and 
quaint  inscriptions,  closing  with  the  monitory  couplet, 

"  Death  is  a  debt  to  Nature  due, 
Which  I  have  paid,  and  so  must  you ;" 

or  with  a  fuller  statement, 

"  As  you  are  now,  so  once  was  I, 

As  I  am  now,  you  soon  must  be ;  • 

Remember,  you  are  born  to  die; 
Therefore,  prepare  to  follow  me." 

Say  not  that  all  this  was  a  waking  dream  or  a  reverie,  for 
it  was  neither  ;  it  was  a  simple  look  into  the  "  picture- 
gallery"  of  the  soul,  and  the  key  that  unlocked  the  partic- 
ular apartment  where  the  Croydon  of  my  childhood  was 
permanently  portrayed,  was  that   little  flower  which  had 


21 

done  for  me  what  no  other  of  all  the  flora  of  Europe  could 
have  done.  The  process  was  rapid.  I  sat  not  long  on  that 
grassy  hillock,  for  the  sun  was  declining,  and  a  cold  wind 
was  setting  in  from  the  frozen  Alps,  and,  plucking  that 
suggestive  flower,  I  hastened  back  to  my  lodgings.  From 
that  hour  I  hoped  that  you  would,  in  1866,  do  what  you 
are  so  effectively  doing  to-day,  and  that  I  might  be  permit- 
ted to  join  you  in  commemorating  the  worth  and  the  deeds 
of  our  ancestors  who  here  made  the  first  settlement,  and 
commenced  for  the  town  the  history  you  are  passing  in 
review. 

Be  assured,  Mr.  President  and  fellow- townsmen,  I  speak 
with  intense  sincerity  ;  I  count  it  a  special  privilege  to  be 
here  to-day.  And  why  should  I  not  ?  Though  long  absent, 
I  return  with  memories  fresh  and  vivid.  I  am  living  over 
the  first  eight  years  of  my  varied,  eventful  life.  I  have  seen 
many  parts  of  the  world,  the  New  and  the  Old  ;  but  no 
spot  on  either  continent,  in  city  or  country,  is  so  dear  to  me 
as  my  native  town.  I  stop  not  to  analyze  this  feeling  of 
preference  ;  probably  it  defies  all  analysis  and  explanation  ; 
but  I  know  it  to  be  a  fixed  fact  in  my  being,  and  only  by 
the  annihilation  of  that  being  can  it  be  dislodged.  My  spirit 
is  mellow  and  tender  with  reminiscences  of  the  place  and 
the  people  as  they  were  when  this  was  my  home.  What  I 
have  described  as  lying  far  back  im  my  memory,  is,  I 
presume,  but  a  representative  of  what  is  depicted  with  equal 
clearness  in  the  memories  of  others.  The  Wheelers,  the 
Metcalfs,  the  Halls,  the  Powers,  the  Whipples,  the  Havens, 
the  Carrolls,  the  Putnams,  and  all  the  rest  of  you  who  have 
lived  fifty  years  and  more,  have  your  own  picture-galleries^ 


22 

open  to-day  and  filled  with  images  of  the  past.  You  are 
thinking  of  old  homesteads,  and  parents,  and  neighbors,  and 
the  events  of  your  early  days.  Some  of  you,  natives  of 
Croydon,  are  older  than  myself,  and  can  remember  farther 
back  ;  but  none  of  you  who  have  been  long  away,  I  am  sure, 
have  returned  with  a  stronger  love  for  our  native  hills,  or  a 
heart  warmer  with  gratitude  that  this  was  our  birth-place, 
or  that  here  we  were  trained  to  commence  life  in  earnest, 
I  join  you  fervently  in  these  commemorative  services, 
and  cordially  lay  on  this  altar  of  reunion  my  small  contri- 
bution. 

Of  those  who,  one  hundred  years  ago,  commenced  here  a 
settlement,  all  have  long  since  passed  away.  Since  I  left 
the  town,  nearly  two  generations  have  come  and  gone.  Were 
the  first  two  children  who  were  born  near  this  spot — Cath- 
arine Whipple  and  Joshua  Chase — now  living,  they  would 
be  ninety-nine  years  old.  Very  few  bom  in  the  last  century 
are  present  to-day.  As  I  visit  other  places  where  I  have 
resided,  and  inquire  for  old  acquaintances,  I  am  directed  to 
the  cemeteries.  The  same  would  be  done,  more  or  less,  in 
Croydon  ;  and  yet  fewer  in  number,  in  proportion  to  the 
population,  have  closed  their  mission  here,  for  more  than 
two-thirds  of  those  bom  here  have  emigrated,  and  their 
graves  are  to  be  found  in  many  States,  all  the  way  from 
the  Penobscot  to  the  regions  beyond  the  Father  of  Waters. 

I  remember  a  few  of  the  pioneers — more  especially  Moses 
Whipple,  the  vetejan  deacon,  the  man  of  large  heart,  and 
upright  character,  the  genial  peace-maker,  respected  and 
beloved  by  all ;  and  Ezekiel  Powers,  the  man  of  large 
bodily  proportions,  whose  inventive  faculties  and  achieve- 


2S 

ments  of  muscular  strength  and  sterling  common  sense 
made  him  the  hero  of  many  a  tradition.  The  men  of  the 
first  half  century  were  a  hardy  race,  enterprising,  adven- 
turous, made  robust  by  toil  and  exposure,  with  great  powers 
of  endurance,  and  renowned  for  uncommon  triumphs  over 
rugged  obstacles.  Nowhere  else  have  I  seen  men  of  such 
physical  frames  and  such  executive  energies  as  some  whom 
I  remember.  With  what  rapt  interest  and  admiration  I 
listened,  as  a  child,  by  the  hour  to  stories  of  their  hardships 
and  exploits  in  land-clearing,  river-bridging,  road-making, 
house-building,  sugar-manufacturing,  bear-hunting,  otter 
and  beaver-trapping,  snow-shoe- traveling !  How  unpro- 
ductive was  often  the  soil  they  cultivated  ;  how  unfriendly 
were  the  late  spring  and  early  autumnal  frosts  ;  how 
obstructing  were  the  terrific  snow-storms  ;  how  short  and 
capricious  were  their  summers,  and  long  and  rigorous  their 
winters  ;  how  difficult  to  protect  their  scanty  crops  and  live 
stock  from  the  depredations  of  wild  beasts  ;  how  coarse  and 
often  restricted  were  their  means  of  sustenance  ;  how 
stringent  were  their  privations  during  the  Kevolutionary 
War  ;  how  great  their  sufferings  from  a  depreciated  cur- 
rency, from  the  lack  of  groceries,  clothing,  and  medical 
supplies  !  What  an  unwritten  history  !  Traditions,  once 
fresh  and  thrilling,  how  faded  already,  and  soon  to  be 
wholly  forgotten  !  Young  as  I  was,  I  listened  eagerly,  and 
my  memory  was  charged  to  repletion  with  narratives, 
original  and  second-hand,  from  my  paternal  grandmother, 
from  Samuel  Powers,  Sherman  Cooper,  Aaron  Whipple, 
and,  may  I  not  add,  from  that  venerable  spinster,  "  aunt 
Lizzie  Sanger."  I  was  fond  of  the  captivating  detail  of 
Jewish,  Grecian,  Eoman  and  English  history  ;  but  nothing 


24 

that  I  read  struck  roots  so  deeply  in  my  inner  beinpj,  and 
fixed  there  so  permanent  a  lodgment,  as  those  oral  narratives 
heard  by  childhood's  ear  during  the  long  winter  evenings 
nearly  sixty  years  ago.  Often  since  have  I  coveted  the 
descriptive  powers  of  those  strong-minded  stalwart  veterans, 
some  of  whom  were  actors  in  the  rough  scenes  they  graphi- 
cally portrayed.  They  had  the  elements  of  first-class 
orators.  And  among  those  narrated  marvels  were  not  a  few 
of  the  heroic  achievements  of  Croydon  women,  the  great- 
grandmothers  of  many  now  before  me  ;  of  what  they  eflfect- 
ively  did  and  bravely  suffered,  when  their  husbands,  fathers, 
brothers,  sons,  were  away  contending  for  their  country's 
independence.  I  remember  some  of  those  women,  of 
uncommon  brain  and  muscle,  giantesses  and  the  mothers  of 
giants  :  and  few  of  the  sex  have  I  since  seen  who  equaled 
them  in  strength  of  intellect  and  executive  accomplishment. 
None  of  them  are  here  ;  but  memory  holds  in  the  "  picture- 
gallery"  their  forms  and  features  and  intonations  of 
speech. 

Mr.  President,  by  some  unaccountable  process,  I  have 
had  the  misfortune  to  be  announced  for  an  "  oration"  on 
this  festive  occasion.  That  is  what  your  Committee  never 
asked  of  me,  and  what  I  never  promised  or  contemplated. 
I  am  here  no  more  to  pronounce  an  oration  than  I  am  to 
preach  a  sermon.  I  consented,  as  one  of  the  speakers,  to 
contribute  something  in  the  way  of  reminiscences.  Twenty 
years  ago,  I  was  more  formal  in  a  memorial  service  at 
Newport,  when  there  was  a  reunion,  not  of  natives  merely, 
but  of  past  and  present  residents.  And,  nineteen  .years 
ago,  at  Sherburne,  Mass.,  I  addressed,  in  quite  another  style, 


25 

the  descendants  of  Henry  Leland,  some  of  whose  posterity, 
at  an  early  period,  settled  in  Croydon.  But  this  is  neither 
Newport  nor  Sherburne ;  it  is  my  birthplace,  the  home  of 
my  progenitors,  full  to  overflow  of  the  tenderest  associations, 
and  the  affections  here  burn  with  an  intensity  that  forbids 
all  intellectual  elaboration. 

To  say  much  of  persons  might  be  deemed  invidious  ;  but 
of  a  very  few  I  may  speak  particularly  without  incurring 
the  imputation  of  partiality. 

Foremost  among  those  remembered,  1  mention  Jacob 
Haven,  uniformly  called  "  Priest,"  as  were  all  Congrega- 
tional ministers  in  this  region,  while  Baptist  and  Freewill 
Baptist  ministers  were  as  uniformly  known  by  the  title  of 
"  Elder."  For  more  than  half  a  century  he  was  prominently 
identified  with  the  history  of  the  town.  A  native  of  Fram- 
ingham,  Mass.,  he  was  here  ordained  in  1788,  and  here  he 
died  in  1845.  He  was  called  to  the  pastorate  by  the  legal 
voters  of  the  town,  who  determined  his  salary  ;  and,  being 
the  first  minister  settled,  he  was  the  recipient  of  the  share 
of  land  reserved  for  that  purpose  by  the  grantor.  Governor 
Wentworth.  In  1805,  he  ceased  to  be  the  minister  of  the 
town,  "feind  became  the  pastor  of  such  as  adhered  to  him  by 
similarity  of  religious  views  or  afiinity  of  personal  feeling, 
and  were  willing  to  support  him. 

You  who  are  not  past  forty  do  not  remember  the  old 
meeting-house,  a  very  plain  structure,  never  finished,  and 
too  cold  to  be  occupied  in  the  winter.  I  recollect  how  the 
plates,  beams  and  king-posts  were  exposed  on  the  inside. 
The  pews  were  square,  with  perpendicular  partitions,  and 
with  turn-up  seats  which,  at  the  close  of  the  "  long  prayer," 


26 

were  let  down  "with  a  famous  clatter,  sometimes  before  the 
"Amen."  The  seats  were  uncushioned,  the  aisles  were 
uncarpeted,  and  many  panes  in  the  numerous  windows  were 
broken.  The  pulpit,  behind  which  was  the  royal  window, 
was  very  elevated,  and  contained  a  square  block  for  a  rest 
to  the  shorter  limb  of  the  Priest  as  he  stood  at  his  work. 
Overhanging  \yas  a  clumsy  "  canopy"  or  "  sounding-board." 
Half  way  up  the  pulpit,  at  the  first  landing,  were  the 
"  Deacon's  seats,"  graced,  as  I  well  remember,  by  such 
worthies  as  Moses  Whipple,  Stephen  Powers,  and  Sherman 
Cooper.  In  the  front  gallery  was  the  choir  of  singers,  un- 
sustained  by  organ  or  seraphine  or  even  a  "big  fiddle,"  but 
conducted  by  Samuel  Metcalf,  who  gave  the  key-note  with 
his  pitch-pipe,  and  then,  in  unison  with  the  rest,  sounded 
out  the  initial  "  fa-sol-la-mi-fa."  In  some  of  the  old  fugue 
tunes,  0,  how  they  raced  in  mazy  confusion,  all  coming  out 
nearly  together !  At  one  end  of  the  house  was  a  tower 
surmounted  by  a  belfry,  from  which  never  a  bell  sent  its 
peals  among  these  hills.  Around  the  house  was  a  profusion 
of  mayweed,  milkweed,  and  huge  thistles  with  fragrant 
blossoms  and  sharp  thorns.  In  my  earlier  years,  no  vehicle 
with  wheels  ever  visited  that  sanctuary.  Some  of  the 
people  went  on  foot,  others  on  horseback.  Now  and  then 
there  was  a  side-saddle  ;  but  the  "  pillion"  was  the  more 
common  convenience  for  the  women.  It  was  nothing 
unusual  for  the  husband  and  wife  to  arrive  on  one  horse,  she 
behind  bearing  an  infant  in  her  arms,  and  he  an  older  child 
upon  a  pillow  on  the  pommel  of  the  saddle.  This  various 
burden  was  conveniently  dismounted  at  the  "  horse-block." 
In  that  house,  with  the  exception  of  the  winter  months, 
Priest  Haven  oflficiated  from  1794  to  1826.     He  was  a  orood 


27 

preacher,  not  brilliantly  rhetoricalj  but  serious  in  manner, 
clear  in  statement,  logical  in  reasoning,  and  forcible  in 
appeal.  A  few  weeks  since,  a  gentleman  from  this  vicinity, 
speaking  of  a  lady  of  this  town,  said  to  me  that  she  was 
"the  most  intelligible  lady  in  Croydon."  It  was  not  exactly 
the  compliment  he  intended  ;  but  of  Priest  Haven  it  was 
true  that  he  was  both  intelligible  and  intelligent.  He  made 
himself  understood.  That  he  was  impressive,  I  have  occasion 
to  know,  for  I  remember  well  a  sermon  I  heard  him  deliver 
more  than  fifty  years  ago,  on  a  communion  day,  from  the 
words,  ^^  I  will  wash  mine  hands  in  innocency ;  so  will  I 
compass  thine  altar,  0  Lord."  He  never  had  a  liberal 
salary.  When  settled,  the  town  voted  him  forty  pounds,  to 
be  increased,  in  certain  contingences,  to  sixty  pounds  ;  "  the 
sum  to  be  paid  in  neat  stock,  equal  to  good  grass-fed  beef, 
at  twenty  shillings  per  hundred  weight,  or  good  rye  at  four 
shillings  per  bushel."  He  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the 
schools,  and  was  an  earnest  promoter  of  all  efforts  to 
improve  the  morals  of  the  town.  He  solemnized,  for  a  long 
period,  nearly  all  the  marriages,  and  officiated  at  nearly  ali 
the  funerals  ;  but  he  never  grew  rich  by  the  compensation 
for  such  services,  any  more  than  by  his  scanty  salary.  For 
thirty-two  years  he  was  Town  Clerk,  and  few  municipal 
records  will  more  creditably  bear  inspection.  He  died 
beloved  and  lamented. 

I  remember  only  one  physician — Reuben  Carroll — who 
practiced  here  forty-seven  years,  and  had  largely  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people.  His  personal  appearance,  and  his 
,  figure  on  horseback,  are  distinct  in  my  memory  ;  yes,  and 
those  large  black  saddle-bags,  redolent  of  odors  not  all  from 
Cashmere  or  Damascus.     His  physiognomy  was  peculiar, 


28 

intensely  medical,  and,  in  my  simplicity,  I  inferred  that  the 
configuration  of  his  facial  muscles  was  influenced  by  his 
smelling  his  own  drugs.  He  was  physician,  surgeon  and 
apothecary,  with  a  varied  but  not  very  lucrative  practice. 
One  cold  winter  day,  as  I  returned  from  school,  I  was 
informed  that  I  had  a  little  brother  in  the  house.  Though 
less  than  five  years  old,  I  loved  knowledge,  and  earnestly 
inquired  as  to  the  origin  of  the  important  stranger.  My 
grandmother,  who  was  sometimes  a  little  waggish,  for  she 
was  a  Powers,  bantered  me  with  evasive  answers.  Not  to 
be  foiled,  I  pressed  my  inquiry,  and  she  then  told  me,  "  Dr. 
Carroll  brought  him."  Well,  that  was,  for  the  time  being, 
satisfactory,  for  it  was  definitive,  and  I  had  at  once  a  solution 
of  the  mystery  as  to  the  required  capacity  of  those  odorifer- 
ous saddle-bags.  How  wise  was  I  in  my  reasoning  that  Dr. 
Carroll  kept  a  supply  of  the  little  folks  ready-made,  and 
dispensed  them  about  town,  wherever  wanted. 

Let  me  mention  one  other  individual  who  has  a  large 
place  in  my  recollections — the  negro,  Scipio  Page,  always 
on  hand  at  town  meetings  and  military  trainings,  grand 
caterer  for  the  appetites  of  all  who  would  pay  their  coppers 
for  fruits,  cakes  and  pastry.  He  was  dismally  black  as  if 
right  from  Congo,  and  his  name  was  freely  used  in  family 
discipline.  "  Old  Scip  will  catch  you,"  was  the  climax  of 
threats  to  refractory  children,  and  planted  in  many  a  mind 
a  prejudice  against  color  that  was  all  but  ineradicable. 
Eeally,  "  Old  Scip"  was  one  of  the  most  harmless  of  men, 
doing  what  many  of  his  despisers  did  not — honestly  earning 
his  own  bread,  and  minding  his  own  business. 

I  remember  the  schools  as  few,  and  not  of  a  very  high  or- 
der.    How  well  do  I  recollect  one,  with  short  terms,  summer 


29 

and  winter,  and  with  Vashti  Hagar  and  Ezra  Gustin  as 
teachers — the  former  still  living,  in  Illinois,  and,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-one,  a  correspondent  whom  I  value  for  her  deep 
piety  and  vigorous  good  sense.  The  prejudice  here  against 
education,  more  advanced  than  the  product  of  common 
schools,  was  almost  universal,  and  a  desire  for  more  was  set 
down  to  the  account  of  indolence  or  misdirected  amhition. 
The  boy  who  ventured  to  look  towards  a  College,  declined  at 
once  in  position  among  his  fellows. 

The  only  public  work  of  those  days  was  the  Croydon 
Turnpike,  and  I  remember  how  the  share-holders,  many  of 
whom  worked  out  their  subscriptions  to  the  stock  by  build- 
ing each  a  section  of  the  road,  and  who  were  promised  large 
dividends,  received  their  income  mostly  in  the  shape  of 
assessments  for  repairs  and  the  support  of  turnpike  gates. 

The  politics  of  the  town  were  then  strongly  Democratic, 
of  the  Jeffersonian  type,  and  party-spirit  acrimoniously 
divided  the  men,  women  and  children.  I  had  an  aunt, 
living  with  one  of  the  meekest  of  husbands  in  yonder  house, 
who  could  talk  on  public  affairs  more  intelligently  and 
smartly  than  some  of  the  men  whom  we  now  send  to 
Washington. 

As  we  had  no  mails,  newspapers  were  brought  weekly  by 
post-riders  from  Concord  and  Walpole  ;  and,  though  few 
were  taken,  they  were  read  with  avidity,^and  loaned  from 
hand  to  hand,  and  their  contents  were  talked  over  at  Edward 
Hall's  and  James  Breck's  stores,  and  Benjamin  Barton's 
tavern,  and  sometimes  at"  "intermissions"  of  Sabbath 
services. 

The  first  settlers  were  chiefly  from  Worcester  County, 
Mass.,  and  were  decidedly,  stringently  puritanical.    Tradi- 


30 

tion  has  brought  down  many  a  fact,  showing  how  severely 
conscientious  they  were  in  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  all  this  while  they  had  no  church,  no  minister,  no  gath- 
ering place  for  Christian  worship.  But  most  certainlj'  the 
next  generation,  as  I  knew  it,  was  more  lax  in  morals. 
Religious  dissensions  and  political  bitterness  had  their  influ- 
ence in  the  deteriorating  process  ;  but  the  copious  influx 
and  fearful  consumption  of  New  England  rum  did  far  more 
in  the  work  of  degeneracy.  Terrible  was  the  havoc  made 
by  that  fiery  agent  among  the  bodies,  minds,  morals  and 
estates  of  the  population.  Some  of  you  remember  those 
days  of  declining  industry,  mortgaged  farms,  absconding 
debtors,  and  deplorable  indifference  to  the  Sabbath  and 
Christian  proprieties.  Many  vices,  such  as  horse-racing, 
gambling,  licentiousness,  were  among  the  natural  concom- 
itants of  the  radical  evil.  But,  in  the  third  generation, 
there  was  happily  a  change  in  the  habits  of  the  people ;  the 
temperance  reform  wrought  beneficent  transformations ;  and 
the  favorable  result  was  seen  in  their  persons  and  their 
manners,  in  their  dwellings  and  their  farms — in  the  general 
aspect  of  the  town  both  physical  and  moral.  What  may 
now  be  the  condition  of  things,  I  am  incompetent  to  speak  ; 
but  I  look  to-day  with  delight  upon  your  countenances,  so 
difierent  from  many  that  I  remember,  inflamed,  bloated, 
scarred  with  the  furn^ice-fires  of  imbibed  alcohol.  Grod 
bless  you  all  my  relatives  and  friends,  and  mercifully  pre- 
serve you  from  another  such  volcanic  devastation  ! 

But  I  must  not  trespass  upon  time  that  belongs  to  others. 
The  representatives  of  many  families  are  present,  and  their 
reminiscences  must  be  as  full  and  as  interesting  as  my  own. 
We  are  here  after  a  long  separation,  that  we  may  have  one 


31 

earthly  reunion,  and  bring  together  the  treasures  of  quick- 
ened memories  ;  and  especially  that  we  may  garland  the 
graves  of  the  intrepid  few  who,  on  these  hill-sides  and  along 
these  water-courses,  laid  good  foundations  for  the  thrift  of 
their  successors.  I  have  done  what  I  could.  You  may  do 
immensely  better. 

What  now  of  the  future  ?  Three  generations  have 
passed  away.  What  shall  be  the  character  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  next  three  ?  Who  will  gather  here,  in  1966, 
and  rehearse  the  story  of  two  centuries  ?  Long  ere  that 
second  centennial,  we  shall  all  have  joined  the  congregation 
of  the  departed,  and  our  dust  will  repose  in  stillness  as  now 
reposes  the  dust  of  our  revered  ancestors.  May  we  so  live, 
and  so  fulfill  the  trusts  of  life,  as  that  we  may  have  a  joyous 
reunion  in  the  Better  Land. 


After  the  Address,  and  music  by  the  Band,  the  procession 
was  again  formed  under  the  direction  of  the  Chief  Marshal 
and  escorted  to  the  table,  which  had  been  bountifully  spread 
by  the  people  of  the  town,  and  was  free  to  all.  The  Divine 
blessing  was  invoked  by  the  Rev.  C.  M.  Dinsmore,  of  New- 
port, and  more  than  two  .thousand  persons  partook  of  the 
repast.  The  table,  some  thousand  feet  in  length,  was 
divided  into  seven  sections.  One  section  was  entirely  pro- 
vided for  by  the  liberality  of  the  Hon.  Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 
and  was  most  tastefully  arranged  and  decorated  by  the 
ladies  of  his  household.  On  its  center  was  "  a  fatted  calf," 
roasted  whole.  The  town  had  been  divided  into  six  districts, 
and  as  each  district  was  to  furnish  one  section  of  the  table, 
there  arose,  at  once,  a  generous  rivalry,  as  to  which  should 
surpass  the  other  in  the  amount  and  excellence  of  its  sup- 
plies and  the  beauty  of  its  oftiaments,  and  the  result  was 


32 

most  happy  and  alike  honorable  to  the  liberality  and  taste 
of  the  town.  When  all  had  been  fed,  many  a  basket  was 
taken  away  unopened. 

After  dinner  the  procession  was  re-formed  and  marched 
back  to  the  stand.  The  assembly  was  called  to  order  and 
listened  to  music  by  the  band. 

The  President. — Although  much  has  been  done  since 
we  left  the  stand,  there  are  things  yet  to  be  said  to  which 
you  will  be  glad  to  listen.  I  see  before  me  one  belonging  to 
what  is  supposed  to  be  the  talking  fraternity,  with  whose 
voice  and  manly  proportions  I  have  long  been  familiar  in  the 
Court-Room,  and  who,  I  doubt  not,  can  say  something  out 
of  doors.  We  expect  to  hear  from  the  Bartons  and  Pow- 
ers in  combination  and  separately ;  and  first  in  combination, 
I  now  call  for  a  speech  from  Levi  W.  Barton,  Esq.,  of 
Newport. 

Mr.  Barton  said : 

Mr.  President  :  I  could  wish)  Sir,  that  you  had  called 
upon  some  other  son  of  Croydon  to  speak,  at  this  time,  in 
my  stead.  The  entertainment  from  which  we  have  just  re- 
turned, which  has  so  generously  contributed  to  our  physical 
comfort,  has  but  poorly  fitted  me  to  take  a  part,  however 
humble,  in  the  exercises  in  which  we  are  now  to  engage. 
Besides,  Sir,  the  scene  before  me,  the  remembrance  of  for- 
mer days,  and  the  sacred  memories  of  the  past,  have  so 
wrought  upon  my  feelings,  that  my  tongue  falters,  and  my 
eyes  are  in  full  sympathy  with  the  weeping  clouds  over  us. 
Gladly  would  I  sit  in  silence,  and  yield  myself  to  the  re- 
flections which  the  hour  suggests.  Though  belonging  to  the 
"speaking  fraternity,"  as  yotf  have  announced,  I  confess. 


<^,2^^r7;^f^c 


33 

Sir,  that  my  best  selected  words  are  all  too  poor  to  express 
the  deep  emotion  of  my  heart.  Before  me  are  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  my  own  native  town,  who  scattered  by  the 
events  of  life  have  come  back  to  visit  the  place  of  their  birth 
and  the  home  of  their  childhood.  Yes,  like  pilgrims  we 
have  come  back  with  our  wives,  children  and  friends,  to  en- 
joy mutual  congratulations,  and  share  with  each  other  the 
sacred  associations  of  a  place  made  dear  to  us  by  a  thousand 
tender  recollections. 

Many  of  us  are  standing  upon  the  play-ground  of  our 
childhood.  Here  was  the  arena  of  athletic  sports— rof  ex- 
citing games  and  innocent  amusements.  How  distinct  the 
remembrance — how  fond  the  recollections.  Around  us,  on 
all  sides,  are  the  dear  old  hills  and  valleys — fond  remembran- 
ces of  by-gone  pleasures,  for  here  we  cherished  many  a 
pleasant  dream  of  life,  all  unmindful  of  life's  thorny  road. 
Before  us  is  the  old,  familiar  river,  along  whose  banks  we 
so  often  roamed  and  in  whose  waters  we  have  so  often  sport- 
ed. Yonder  is  the  spot  where  stood  the  old  village  school- 
house,  around  which  clusters  the  toost  interesting  and  abid- 
ing recollections.  Beyond  stands  the  same  old  wood,  still 
vocal  with  the  sweet  carol  -  of  the  forest  bird,  which  so  de- 
lighted our  ear  in  school-boy  days.  How  sweet  in  the  warm 
summer  days  was  the  water  which  gushed,  cool  and  spark- 
ling from  yonder  hill-side.  How  beautiful  from  the  rocky 
summit  above  was  the  view  below  of  the  meandering  river, 
the  placid  ponds  where  grew  the  pure,  sweet-scented  lily, 
the  rich  green  meadows,  and  beyond  all,  my  own  sunny 
home  ;  where  with  brothers  and  sisters  I  was  watched  over 
and  cared  for  by  my  then  youthful  but  now  aged  mother. 
You  will  pardon  me,  if  I  say  that  around  all  these  haunts 


34 

of  childhood  there  seemed  to  linger  a  brighter  halo  of  light 
than  shines  upon  any  other  spot  which  my  eye  has  ever 
beheld.  With  the  feeling  which  prompted  the  beautiful 
sentiment  of  the  poet,  I  would  say  : 

"  IIow  dear  to  my  lieart  are  the  scenea  of  my  childhood 
When  fond  recolloction  presents  them  to  view." 

But  not  all  to  whom  these  scenes  and  haunts  are  familiar 
are  permitted  to  see  this  historic  day.  Many  have  fallen  in 
their  various  fields  of  labor,  far  away  from  their  early  home ; 
others  have  here  fainted  by  the  way,  and  yonder  church- 
yard holds  their  sacred  dust. 

But  I  am  carried  back  to  the  storied  past.  Standing  at  a 
century-point  from  the  settlement  of  the  town  I  seem  to  see 
in  panoramic  view  the  scenes  and  events  of  those  early  days. 
One  hundred  years  have  passed  away  since  our  ancestors 
— those  hardy  pioneers  of  civilization — sought  homes  in  the 
unbroken  wilderness  where  now  .we  see  smiling  fields,  and 
cultivated  farms.  We  seem  to  see  them  now,  as  they  grap- 
pled manfully  and  resolutely  with  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life. 
No  exposure,  no  danger  or  privation  could  detain  them  from 
the  accomplishment  of  their  high  purpose.  Eelying  upon  the 
God  of  their  fathers,  they  were  hopeful  amidst  discourage- 
ments, and  "  patient  in  tribulation."  They  were  of  the  Puri- 
tan stock  and  inherited  their  love  of  justice,  their  devotion 
to  principle  and  their  contempt  of  toil  and  danger.  Such  men 
were  Whipple,  Chase,  Warren,  Leland,  Powers  and  others, 
who  one  century  ago  laid  the  foundation  of  this  town. 
They  yielded  up  the  endearments  of  homes  and  the  associa- 
tions of  friends,  to  receive  in  exchange  the  hardships  and 
privations  incident  to  a  new  settlement.  No  friendly  voice 
greeted  their  arrival,  no  kind  hand  was  outstretched  for 
their  relief.     The  damp  earth  was  their  couch,  the  overhang- 


35 

ing  branches  of  the  trees  their  only  roof.  The  woodman's 
axe  soon  breaks  the  silence  of  the  dense  old  forest.  Soon 
the  curling  smoke  of  the  rude  log  cabin  is  seen  to  rise  above 
the  tree- tops.  Years  of  privation  followed  in  which,  though 
deprived  of  most  of  the  physical  comforts  of  life,  they  were 
not  unmindful  of  the  true  element  of  a  permanent  prosper- 
ity. Here  the  church  was  erected,  within  the  rude  but  con- 
secrated walls  of  which  devout  prayer  and  praise  arose  from 
hearts  of  humble  worshipers.  Here,  too,  they  erected  the 
school-house — the  auxiliary  of  the  Church  and  the  nursery 
of  a  true  republican  state.  Thus  did  our  fathers  plant  a 
wild,  uncultivated  wilderness  with  Christian  homes,  Chris- 
tian churches,  and  common 'schools. 

But  the  early  settlers  of  Croydon  were  not  more  devoted 
to  their  religious  and  moral  obligations  than  to  their  claims 
of  country  and  the  civil  rights  of  man.  From  the  battle  of 
Lexington  to  the  close  of  the  war  of  independence,  her 
sons  went  promptly  forth  to  battle  for  home  and  country. 
Then,  as  in  the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  her 
sons  were  found  where  duty  called.  She  has  never  tolerated* 
tories  and  traitors  upon  her  soil.  How  valuable  the  legacy 
which  has  been  bequeathed  to  us.  How  great  our  obliga- 
tion to  transmit  it  to  posterity.  This  day  forms  a  connect- 
ing link  between  the  past  century,  with  all  its  sorrows  and 
joys,  its  sad  recollections  and  ^acred  memories,  and  the  com- 
ing century  with  all  its  hopes  of  good  and  bright  anticipa- 
tions. By  the  veneration  we  entertain  for  our  fathers — by 
the  love  we  have  for  posterity  not  less  than  a  due  regard  for 
our  own  welfare — we  are  admonished  that  we  occupy  positions 
of  grave  responsibility.  The  influence  of  individual  life 
extends  far  beyond  the  limits  of  our  earthly  career.     The 


36 

condition  of  generations  which  are  to  follow  us  depends  in 
no  small  degree  upon  the  acts  we  do  and  the  lives  we  live. 
How  fit  the  occasion  for  high  and  noble  resolutions.  Let  us 
see  to  it  that  posterity  have  no  occasion  to  reproach  us,  and 
that  when  they  shall  meet,  as  we  do  to-day,  to  mark  anoth- 
er century  in  the  history  of  our  town,  they  may  be  able  to 
refer  to  our  record,  as  we  do  to  that  of  our  fathers,  with  feel- 
ings of  pride  and  veneration.  May  we  then  be  counted 
faithful  guardians  and  worthy  stewards  of  the  trust  commit- 
ted to  us. 

May  this  day  form  a  golden  link  in  friendship's  chain, 
binding  us  by  the  sweet  influence  of  association  to  each 
other  and  to  our  native  town.  *  But,  Mr.  President,  I  am 
fearful  I  have  spoken  too  long  and  trespassed  on  time  which 
properly  belongs  to  others.  My  friends,  in  conclusion  let 
me  say,  that  you  have  heard,  though  imperfectly  I  confess, 
from  the  "  Bartons  and  Powerses  in  combination."  I  trust 
that  you  will  not  judge  of  the  standing  and  strength  of  my 
maternal  or  paternal  ancestors,  by  this  hasty  and  immature 
•effort  of  mine.  They  deserve  to  be  judged  by  a  higher 
standard.  Their  history  is  interwoven  most  closely  with 
the  history  of  the  town,  from  its  earliest  days.  I  trust  I 
shall  not  be  charged  with  invidious  boasting  if  I  claim  for 
them,  as  families,  a  somewhat  leading  position  in  the  vari- 
ous walks  of  social  and  civil  life.  To  say  that  they  had 
faults  is  but  to  proclaim  their  common  humanity. 

Let  us,  their  descendants,  avoid  their  errors  and  emulate 
their  virtues,  for  in  no  way  can  we  honor  them  so  much  as 
by  excelling  them  in  virtue. 

In  closing,  allow  me  to  present  to  the  assembly  the  fol- 
lowing sentiment : 


^y 


4^cJ^^mfi^  ^'^' 


37 


John  Cooper,  the  Historian  of  Croydon  :  While  endeav- 
oring to  rescue  the  names  and  deeds  of  his  ancestors  from 
oblivion,  he  has  secured  his  own  immortality. 

The  President. — The  weather  does  not  seem  propitious 
for  the  muses  this  afternoon;  but  Croydon  Poets  are  irre- 
pressible. You  will  listen  to  a  Centennial  Poem  prepare 
for  the  occasion  by  Mrs.  Augusta  Cooper  Bristol,  of 
Illinois. 

The  following  Poem  was  then  read  and  sung  by  the  Glee 
Club  : 


No  power  has  made  secure  or  fast, 
The  sepulchre  with  portal  vast, 
That  opens  on  the  buried  Past. 

And  Poesy  puts  forth  her  hand. 

And  group  by  group,  and  band  by  band, 

The  dead  years  rise  at  her  command. 

Not  freezing  specters,  chill  and  numb, 
Nor  ghostly  shadows,  dim  and  dumb  ; — 
But  crowned  and  glorified  they  come. 

Their  step  a  song,  their  march  a  rhyme, 
Along  the  grand  arcade  of  Time, 
The  century-children  tower  sublime. 

Titans,  majestically  tall, 

The  ancient  years  rise  first  of  all, 

In  answer  to  my  poet  call. 

Giants  of  sternest  hardihood, 

They  cleave  a  pathway  rough  and  rude, 

Defeating  wrong,  achieving  good. 

Where  Nature  all  unconquered  stands, 
They  lift  their  iron-sinewed  hands, 
And  train  her  meek  to  their  commands. 

Severely  brave,  because  so  pure, 
They  fail  not.  Victory  is  sure  ! 
They  grapple,  conquer,  and  secure ! 

Their  code  confronts  Oppression's  rod  ! — 
"  All  men  are  kings  upon  the  sod. 
Heaven-vested  !     Only  God  is  God!" 


38 

They  are  unto  themselves  reward  ; 
They  hold  the  beauty  of  accord, 
And.  theirs  the  secret  of  the  Lord. 

They  pass ; — and  still  a  later  throng 
Of  century-children  sweep  along, 
Urged  by  the  miracle  of  song. 

These  bring  the  balmy  bud  of  Peace ; 
Their  calm  eyes  hold  a  blessed  lease 
Of  homely  comfort  and  increase. 

Sweet  counterparts,  in  Time's  refrain, 
They  round  the  rich  crescendo  strain 
Of  Plenty,  Industry,  and  Gain. 

And  Art  ignores  her  doubtful  pause, 
And  Science,  trusty  vassal,  draws 
The  veil  from  Nature's  cryptic  laws. 

For  them  Contentment  wreaths  her  vine, 
And  floods  them  with  auroral  shine, 
As  slow  they  vanish, — line  by  line. 

And  following  them,  the  immortal  few, — 
Last  in  the  century  review, — 
Move  down  the  spirit  avenue. 

The  Christs  among  the  ages !  Lo, 
The  carmine  drips  ^across  the  snow 
Of  their  pure  vesture  as  they  go ! 

And  all  the  blood-drops,  purple-ripe, 
And  every  symbol  stam  and  stripe, 
Divinest  meanings  stereotype. 

Their  God-thought  blossoms  into  deed  ; 
Freedom  and  brotherhood  their  creed. 
To  right  all  human  wrong  and  need. 

They  thunder  at  the  monarch's  gate, 

"  One  throne  alone  's  inviolate  ! — 

The  White  Throne  where  the  angels  wait." 

Around  Oppression's  grave  they  chant 

Their  hallelujahs  jubilant. 

Till  earth  ana  heaven  are  reboant. 

Their  martyr-brows  are  aureate 

With  thought.     Their  lifted  eyes  dilate 

With  visions  of  man's  ultimate. 

Sublimest  of  the  century  name. 
They  pass  enwrapt  in  spirit  flame. 
And  fade  all-glorious  as  they  came. 


39 


Divinely  wrought,  and  mission  true, 
Far  in  the  silence  and  the  blue, 
Fades  out  the  hundred-year  review. 

Oh  raise  for  them  a  pean  free. 
My  friends  to-day  !  for  unto  thee 
They  leave  a  royal  legacy. 

A  power  to  smite  Injustice  down  ; 
To  give  to  Freedom's  brow  the  crown, 
Though  kings  demur  and  tyrants  frown. 

A  will  all  human  woe  to  heed, 
To  seize  ideal  thought  at  need, 
And  crystalize  it  into  deed. 

A  hope  to  fill  the  heart  with  song. 

Though  Right  should  seem  eclipsed  by  Wrong 

And  life  engloomed  with  shadows  long. 

A  consciousness  untrained  and  free, 
That  spheres  what  Reason  cannot  see  ! — 
Feels  God  through  self-divinity. 

And  best  of  all  the  precious  dower, 
The  cheerful  spirit-will  and  power, 
That  waits  on  duty,  hour  by  hour. 

Oh,  close  to  all  the  heart  reveres, 
Our  royal  legacy  adheres — 
Bequeathment  of  a  hundred  years  ! 

May  the  Almighty's  record-page, 
Prove  that  the  heirs  of  such  an  age 
Were  worthy  of  their  heritage. 

Then  raise  a  pean  full  and  free. 
And  in  the  sweets  of  jubilee 
Embalm  the  dear  old  Century. 


The  President. — You  will  next  listen  to  a  voice  which 
comes  back  to  us  from  the  Empire  State, — a  man  in  whom, 
if  reports  be  true,  are  combined  great  professional  skill 
and  princely  munificence.  When  a  son  of  Dea.  Sherman 
Cooper  speaks,  you  will  all  delight  to  listen.  I  call  upon 
Dr.  William  F.  Cooper,  of  New  York,  for  a  speech. 

Mr  Cooper  responded  as  follows  : 


40 

Mr.  President,  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  : 

I  did  not  know  that  I  was  expected  to  speak  on  this 
occasion  till  since  my  arrival.  I  am  not  used  to  speaking 
in  public,  the  last  forty  years  of  my  life  having  been  spent 
in  the  sick-room,  where  the  hushed  voice  and  muffled  step 
have  ill  prepared  me  to  appear  before  this  vast  assembly. 
But,  after  an  absence  of  thirty-nine  years,  I  am  glad  to  re- 
visit the  towH  of  my  birth  and  the  place  of  my  boyhood  ; 
and  I  am  gratified  that  so  many  of  my  fellow-townsmen 
and  their  descendants  have  given  me  and  those  that  I  have 
brought  with  me  so  cordial  a  reception. 

I  went  out  from  you  in  my  strength;  I  have  returned  to 
you  in  my  weakness.  I  went  to  a  section  of  country  where 
are  no  mountains;  nor  are  there  any  rocks  except  of  second- 
ary formation.  Your  mountains  and  your  vast  bowlders  of 
granite  awaken  in  me  feelings  of  sublimity  and  grandeur  at 
the  power  of  the  Creator.  Though  your  mountains  and 
rocks  remain  much  the  same,  0  how  altered  are  the  inhab- 
itants since  I  left  you,  and  what  vacancies  do  I  see  in  the 
crowd  around  me !  I  fail  to  see  the  manly  form  and  counte- 
nance of  Abijah  Powers,  and  the  firm,  military  step  of 
Samuel  Powers.  I  fail  to  see  those  Revolutionary  patriots, 
who  composed  the  heads  of  so  many  families.  They  were 
men  that  left  their  homes  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and 
marched  on  snow-shoes,  under  Arnold,  amid  cold  and  starv- 
ation, into  Canada.  1  fail  to  see  the  noble  men  who,  when 
one-half  of  the  men  in  town,  capable  of  bearing  arms,  were 
called  for  to  stop  the  progress  of  Gen.  Burgoyne  and  his 
well-drilled  army  in  their  march  from  Canada  to  Albany, 
responded  to  the  call,  met  and  routed  the  enemy  at  Benning- 
ton, and  afterwards  at  Saratoga,  capturing  the  General  and 


41 

his  whole  army,  and  thereby  forever  rendering  those  battle- 
fields classic  ground. 

Remember,  Mr.  President,  that  only  ten  years  had  elapsed 
after  the  first  settler  had  found  his  way  to  Croydon,  before 
the  storm  of  the  Revolution  swept  over  the  scattered  settle- 
ment. Where  can  another  lot  of  such  self-sacrificing  men 
be  found  ^  Your  rugged  soil  and  mountain  air  were  well 
calculated  to  make  patriots — to  make  men;  and  well  did 
they  fulfill  their  mission.  But  those  patriots  are  all  gone. 
Not  one  remains  to  tell  us,  as  they  often  did  on  training  and 
"  election"  days,  of  the  hardships  and  sufferings  which  they 
went  through,  and  of  their  love  of  General  Washington. 

Mr.  President :  I  have  visited  the  first  cemetery  of  this 
town;  and  I  have  visited  the  last  one.  There  I  saw  the 
resting  place,  and  read  the  epitaphs  of  your  ancestors  and 
mine.  I  went  alone — the  most  fitting  way  of  visiting  the 
"City  of  the  Dead."  There  I  saw  the  grave  of  the  first 
one  born  in  town.  There  I  saw  the  graves  of  my  school- 
mates, the  companions  of  my  boyhood.  There  I  saw  the 
resting  place  of  my  parents,  whom  I  left  in  health,  as  I 
went  to  seek  my  fortune  amongst  strangers.  They  lived  to 
a  good  old  age,  and  their  deaths  were  regretted  by  the  com- 
munity in  which  they  lived.  In  these  grave-yards  sleep 
those  who  cleared  up  this  rugged  town,  established  these 
schools  and  churches,  and  laid,  the  foundation  of  all  that  is 
calculated  to  make  true  men  and  women  of  all  within  the 
hearing  of  my  voice.  There  those  sleepers  must  lie  till  the 
morn  of  the  resurrection.  And,  Mr.  President,  is  it  not  a 
thought  calculated  to  make  us  better  men  and  women,  that 
the  next  Centennial  Anniversary  will  find  this  vast  crowd  of 
living  faces  asleep  with  their  fathers  ? 


42 

Mr.  President :  I  feel  like  indulging  in  some  reminis- 
cences of  my  own  early  personal  history.  Here  I  was  born; 
here  in  your  midst  I  went  in  and  out;  and  here  my  character 
was  formed — for  good  or  for  bad.  You  are  my  witnesses 
that  after  the  strictest  sect  I  was  brought  up  a  Pharisee. 
I  visited  yesterday  the  place  where  I  attended  the  district 
school.  The  house  was  gone,  but  the  foundation  was  there. 
It  carried  me  back  to  the  years  of  my  boyhood,  when  Carl- 
ton Barton  kept  the  school  winter  after  winter.  The  stove- 
pipe that  ran  up  almost  perpendicularly,  was  oval  in  shape 
and  as  large  as  my  body.  The  house  being  poorly  lighted, 
the  area  behind  the  stove  was  usually  too  dark  to  be  used 
for  study  or  recitation.  '  There  I  often  went  to  warm  myself 
and  contrive  to  make  the  other  scholars  laugh.  The  teacher 
would  call  them  up  and  punish  them,  while  I  always  escaped 
punishment — except  in  a  single  instance.  A  man  by  the 
name  of  Wood  once  taught  the  school.  He  saw  me  making 
faces  at  him,  and  pounced  upon  me  so  suddenly,  that  I  was 
much  frightened.  Although  the  school-house  is  gone,  the 
stream  of  water  which  ran  beside  it  is  there  still ;  and  the 
furrows  which  the  stream  in  past  ages  had  worn  in  running 
over  the  granite  ledge,  are  also  there.  There  we  used  to  go 
and  drink  the  running  water  in  summer — and  many  a  time 
have  I  cut  the  silverweed  stems  that  were  hollow,  and  gave 
them  to  the  pretty  girls,  for.  them  to  put  in  their  mouths 
and  draw  up  drink.  I  have  no  recollection  of  ever  getting 
any  for  the  boys. 

The  white  birch  is  also  gone.  It  was  a  crotched  tree, 
the  crotch  having  been  used  by  me  for  a  pulpit.  There  I  used 
to  sit  and  act  as  minister  to  a  little  flock  of  girls  and  boys 
that  would  gather  around  me  during  the  noonings.     They 


43 

would  sing,  and  I  would  pray  and  preach.  Those  days,  I 
now  know,  were  my  happiest  days.  I  was  then  looking 
forward  to  better  days,  but  I  have  never  seen  them. 

Mr.  President  :  As  I  stand  on  this  platform,  I  see  the 
familiar  river  that  meanders  through  the  meadow  a  few  rods 
before  me.  It  brings  vividly  to  my  recollection  an  incident 
of  my  first  love.  I  was  then  ten  years  old,  being  about  the 
same  age  of  Patty  Winter,  my  lady-love.  We  used  to  attend 
the  same  school ;  and  we  read,  and  speUed  and  played  together. 
She  wore  a  red  dress,  and  was  thought  by  me  to  be  a  little 
angel.  Mr.  Durkee,  one  of  our  neighbors,  had  hay  dry  enough 
to  be  put  in  the  barn — and  there  were  signs  of  rain.  The 
neighbors  were  called  upon  for  help;  and  I,  a  ten  years  old 
boy,  was  required  to  rake  after  the  cart.  Being  a  warm  day, 
James  Powers  sent  to  Captain  Whipple's  distillery  and  got 
some  potato  whisky.  They  all  drank,  and  gave  to  me. 
Having  never  tasted  anything  of  the  kind  before,  I  drank 
because  others  drank.  The  consequence  was  that  I  soon 
became  drunk;  and,  as  I  was  raking  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  I  fell  in,  and  was  nearly  drowned.  I  was  rescued  by 
Obed  Whipple;  and  after  I  got  over  strangling  so  that  I 
could  speak,  my  first  words  were,  "  Don't  tell  Patty  Winter." 
So  you  see,  gentlemen  and  ladies,  that  my  love  for  the  fair 
sex,  at  that  innocent  age,  was  stronger  than  for  either  earth 
or  heaven.  And  there  are  some  of  my  neighbors  standing 
here,  that  can  tell  you  if  in  that  respect  any  change  has 
taken  place  in  me  since. 

Mr.  President  :  I  will  draw  my  remarks  to  a  close,  as 
others  are  to  follow  me.  But,  before  retiring,  I  wish  to 
speak  of  the  deep  religious  principles  of  some  of  the  early 
settlers  of  this  town,  and  of  their  strict  adherence  both  to 


44 

the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Bible.  Perhaps  I  cannot  better 
illustrate  these  than  by  citing  the  case  of  Ezekiel  Powers,  as 
a  representative  man  of  the  first  settlers  of  Croydon.  Some 
years  after  the  first  settlement,  a  minister  by  the  name  of 
Ballard  came  into  town,  gathered  a  church,  and  established 
rules  for  the  guidance  of  members  and  the  government  of 
the  church.  One  rule  made  it  the  duty  of  church-members 
to  keep  the  Sabbath  day  holy,  and  have  their  children  do 
the  same.  It  was,  in  an  especial  manner,  enjoined  on  par- 
ents to  prohibit  their  sons  from  going  a  courting,  and  their 
daughters  from  having  sparks,  as  they  were  called,  on  Sun- 
day nights.  Another  ordinance  passed  by  the  church  was, 
that  if  a  parent  could  not  make  his  children  obey  him  after 
suitable  admonition  and  correction,  he  was  to  report  them  to 
the  church,  where  by  a  vote  they  were  to  be  "  thrown  over 
to  the  bufietings  of  satan." 

Ezekiel  Powers,  on  his  return  from  the  meeting  in  which 
these  ordinances  were  passed,  called  his  family  around  him, 
and  told  them  of  the  ordinances  of  the  church.  Being  an 
indulgent  parent,  he  told  them  that  they  should  be  indulged 
in  anything  not  forbidden  in  the  Bible;  but  his  commands 
and  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  church  must  be  obeyed. 
He  closed  the  interview  with  prayer — praying  that  the  Lord 
would  cause  his  children  to  obey.  But  his  oldest  son  Ezekiel, 
sixteen  years  of  age,  went  that  same  night  a  courting,  and 
did  not  return  home  till  the  family  were  at  breakfast.  As 
he  entered  the  room  on  Monday  morning,  his  father  seized 
him  by  the  collar,  cuifed  and  shook  him,  and  whipped  him 
severely,  telling  him  at  the  conclusion,  that  if  he  ever  trans- 
gressed in  the  same  way  again,  he  would  double  the  chas- 
tisement.    But  the  son  told  his  father  that  he  should  go  as 


45 

often  as  he  "had  a  mind  to."  The  father  then  thought 
that  he  had  discharged  his  duty.  Accordingly  the  next 
Sabbath,  after  brother  Ballard  had  closed  his  sermon, 
Ezekiel  Powers  arose — his  manly  form  of  six  feet  towering 
above  the  congregation — and,  with  tears  streaming  down  his 
face,  said  to  the  brethren  and  sisters :  "  I  arise  to  perform  a 
painful  duty  to  my  family,  to  the  church,  and  to  my  God. 
My  beloved  son  Ezekiel  proves  incorrigible,  and  went  a 
courting  Sunday  night;  and,  however  it  distresses  me  to  say 
it,  I  consent  by  a  vote  to  heave  him  over  to  the  buffetings 
of  satan."  Ezra  Cooper,  one  of  the  brethren  present,  arose 
about  half  way  up,  and,  with  his  arms  extended  horizontally 
before  him  said,  "  Heave  my  son  Jonathan  over  with  him," 
— he  having  a  son  of  that  name,  who  went  a  courting  the 
Sunday  night  before. 

It  only  remains  for  me,  gentlemen  and  ladies,  to  thank 
you  for  the  hospitality  with  which  you  have  welcomed  your 
returned  sons  and  daughters.  I  feel  proud  of  Croydon,  the 
town  of  my  birth.  AU  that  I  am  or  ever  expect  to  be, 
rests  on  the  foundation  begun,  laid  and  finished  here.  I 
feel  proud  of  the  ladies  that  have  furnished  the  tables  with 
such  taste  and  elegance;  and  I  feel  proud  that  the  ladies 
have  such  good  husbands,  brothers  and  sons  who  have 
provided  so  bountifully  to  fill  the  tables  to  overflowing. 
Finally,  I  feel  proud  that  I  was  born  in  this  town.  Mr. 
President,  I  feel  proud  that  the  talented  Leland,  the  manly 
Powers,  and  the  honest  Cooper  blood  runs  in  my  veins. 
And,  when  I  see  this  vast  multitude,  the  product  of  this 
small  town,  I  feel  proud  of  you  all,  that  you  have  obeyed 
the  first  and  great  command  of  the  Bible,  "  Multiply  and 
replenish  the  earth." 


46 

The  Pkesident. — I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to 
this  audience  a  descendant  of  Moses  Whipple,  "  the  father 
of  the  town/' — Thomas  Whipple,  Esq.,  of  Charlestown, 
who  can  speak  for  himself. 

Mr.  Whipple  said  : 
Mr.  President : 

One  hundred  years  ago,  Seth  Chase  and  his  companion 
stood  gazing  for  the  first  time  upon  the  same  magnificent 
scenery  which  surrounds  us  to-day.  The  grand  outlines  are 
the  same,  but  civilization  has  wrought  changes  in  the  details. 
When  they  turned  their  eyes  to  the  east  there  stood  before 
them  Pine  Hill,  not  as  now  rough  and  jagged,  but  covered 
all  over  with  tall  pines  gracefully  waving  their  beautiful 
branches  in  the  breeze ;  at  their  feet  lay  two  miniature  lakes 
reflecting  the  beams  of  the  rising  sun,  while  at  the  west 
loomed  up  Croydon  Mountain.  Nature  had  spread  out  all 
around  them  only  beauty  and  grandisur,  yet  how  sad  and 
lonely  must  have  been  their  condition.  They  were  alone. 
No  human  voice  to  cheer,  or  heart  to  sympathize  with  them. 
All  around  them  was  a  dark,  howling  wilderness.  Fifteen 
days  after,  as  we  may  well  conceive,  most  gladly  did  they 
welcome  Moses  Whipple  and  David  Warren,  who  arrived 
with  their  families. 

It  has  been  my  good  fortune  from  my  earliest  boyhood  to 
be  much  with  the  early  settlers  of  this  town,  and  listen  to 
their  conversations, — and  hence,  had  I  time  I  could  relate 
many  a  thrilling  or  amusing  incident  connected  with  the 
early  history  of  the  town.  I  could  "tell  you  something  of 
the  grief  that  wrung  our  mothers'  hearts  when  Capt.  Moses 
Whipple  was  called  to  lead  away  to  the  war  so  many  of 


47 

their  husbands  and  sons,  and  with  what  ecstasy  their  return 
was  hailed. 

My  time  will  permit  me  to  relate  only  one  or  two  inci- 
dents ;  and  first,  I  will  tell  you  about  a  hoat-ride  to  which 
an  inhabitant  of  this  town  was  once  treated.  Having  refused 
to  pay  his  taxes,  and  secreted  his  property,  the  collector 
went  with  his  posse  to  arrest  him.  Armed  with  a  loaded 
gun  he  defiantly  threatened  with  death  any  one  who  should 
attempt  the  arrest.  Dea.  Whipple  calmly  remarking  that 
he  was  as  well  prepared  to  die  as  any  one  of  the  party, 
sprang  upon  and  disarmed  him.  He  was  placed  upon  horse- 
back, to  be  taken  to  prison,  but  he  rolled  himself  off  as  fast 
as  he  was  put  on  the  rude  saddle.  The  patience  of  the  par- 
ty becoming  exhausted,  they  improvised  a  stout  stone  boat, 
to  which  he  was  firmly  bound.  A  spirited  horse  was  attach- 
ed to  the  boat.  The  collector  mounted  another,  and  started 
for  Charlestown  jail.  Ordinary  boat-rides  often  produce  sea- 
sickness, and  the  track  here  led  over  rocks,  stumps,  and  the 
roots  and  trunks  of  fallen  trees,  which  were  not  very  care- 
fully avoided;  but  he  braced  himself  against  all  sensations 
of  the  kind.  Voyagers  across  the  Atlantic  to  the  North 
American  coast  are  delighted,  especially  in  winter,  on 
approaching  the  Gulf  Stream.  The  warmness  of  the  water, 
and  the  balmy  softness  of  the  atmosphere  are  peculiarly 
agreeable.  But  when  our  hero  approached  a  gulf  in  the 
south  part  of  the  town,  through  which  ran  an  unbridged 
stream,  he  shrank  back,  beat  up  a  parley,  paid  the  tax  and 
costs,  and  returned  a  sadder  and  a  wiser,  if  not  a  better  man. 
The  effect  was  most  salutary;  and  it  was  long  before  anoth- 
er, having  the  pecuniary  ability,  refused  or  neglected  to  i)ay 
taxes  with  which  he  was  legally  assessed. 


48 

And  now  let  me  tell  you  another  story  of  how  a  husband 
was  made  well  and  a  wife  made  sick.  The  main  wheel  to 
the  mill  first  erected  in  the  town  became  deranged,  and  no 
one  could  be  found  to  put  it  in  order  except  the  person  that 
built  it.  Lame  and  almost  helpless,  he  was  carried  to  the 
wheel-pit,  where  by  accident  he  was  precipitated  into  the 
icy  cold  water.  The  suddenness  of  the  immersion,  and  his 
efforts  to  escape  from  the  unwelcome  bath,  completely  cured 
him  for  the  time.  The  necessary  repairs  were  made,  and  he 
walked  homeward.  His  wife  seeing  him  approach,  and 
imagining  that  he  was  killed  and  that  she  saw  his  appari- 
tion, was  overcome  by  the  emotion  and  confined  to  her  bed, 
while  the  husband  resumed  his  former  labors. 

Your  President  has  alluded  to  the  fact  that  I  am  a 
descendant  of  Moses  Whipple.  You  will  indulge  me  in  a 
few  words  in  relation  to  liira.  He  was  a  proprietor  and  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  town.  He  descended  in  the 
fifth  generation  from  Matthew  Whipple,  who  settled  at 
Ipswich  hamlet,  Mass.,  in  1635.  He  was  born  in  1733. 
His  early  advantages  for  education  were  quite  limited.  He 
was  by  occupation  a  mill-wright  and  surveyor  of  land.  In 
1762,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts 
an  oiScer  in  the  militia  "  in  the  regiment  whereof  Artemus 
Ward  was  Colonel."  At  the  organization  of  the  militia  of 
Croydon  in  1774,  he  was  chosen  Captain  and  commissioned 
by  John  Wentworth,  the  last  colonial  governor  of  the 
Province.  The  next  year  he  was  appointed  to  the  same 
office  by  Matthew  Thornton,  President  of  the  Congress  of 
New  Hampshire.  He  was  a  representative  to  one  of  the 
early  Conventions  held  at  Exeter,  and  for  several  years 
elected  to  the   State  Legislature.     When  the  soldiers  of 


/C^l^^^^^,/f^^. 


-e^t^. 


49 

'1777  marched  to  the  war  from  this  town,  he  commanded  a 
company  composed  mainly  of  men  of  gigantic  stature,  and 
many  of  them  of  herculian  strength.  Without  tents,  and 
destitute  of  baggage-wagons,  they  carried  their  arms,  equip- 
ments and  provisions  across  the  Green  Mountains  on  their 
backs.  When  the  militia  was  re-organized  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  15th  Kegiment. 
In  1786  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  "  Conservators  of  the 
Peace"  to  quell  the  insurrectionary  spirit  which  had  sur- 
rounded our  Legislature  with  an  armed  mob,  and  threatened 
the  State  with  anarchy  and  ruin.  In  1814,  a  year  memora- 
ble for  the  success  of  the  American  arms  in  the  second  war 
for  independence,  he  was  gathered  to  the  tomb  "  like  a 
shock  of  corn  fully  ripe." 

Catherine  Forbush  early  became  the  wife  of  Moses  Whip- 
ple, and  shared  with  him  all  the  toils  and  privations  of  the 
early  settlement.  The  next  summer  after  their  arrival,  she 
called  all  the  children  to  her  house  and  established  a  school^ 
which  she  continued  for  a  long  time  without  money  and 
without  price,  and  laid  the  foundation  on  which  the  old 
schoolmasters,  Stephen  Powers,  Martin  Griswold,  and  Elea- 
zer  Jackson  built;  and  on  which  others  of  a  later  day  have 
reared  a  superstructure  so  eminent  for  usefulness.  The 
mother  of  fourteen  children,  she  died  in  1829. 

The  President.  You  wiU  now  listen  to  a  farmer,  and 
a  descendant  of  the  honest  Coopers — the  Hon.  Lemuel  P. 
Cooper,  of  Croydon,  in  whom  it  is  to  be  presumed  all  the 
virtues  of  his  ancestors  "  stiU  live." 

Mr  Cooper  said  : 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

I  am  unexpectedly  called  upon  to  speak  a  word  for  the- 


50 

"  Cooper  Famil}'^,"  and  also  a  word  for  the  farmers  of 
Croydon.  As  regards  the  race  whose  name  I  bear,  a  very- 
few  words  will  suffice.  Since  their  first  landing  in  this 
country  to  the  present  time,  I  think  their  record  stands 
second  to  none  for  honesty  and  integrity  of  purpose.  Esteem- 
ing others  more  highly  than  themselves  they  have  never  been 
aspiring.  Being  religiously  inclined,  they  have  ever  labored 
to  sustain  the  institutions  of  the  gospel,  and  to  promote  the 
well-being  of  the  community  in  which  they  have  resided. 
My  father,  grandfather,  and  great-grandfather,  and  perhaps 
still  further  back,  were  deacons  in  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  they  have 
all  been  men  of  good  reputation  and  ornaments  to  their 
professions.  My  father,  grandfather  and  uncles  were  among 
the  early  emigrants  to  this  town,  and  shared  largely  in  the 
hardships  and  perils  of  the  early  settlement.  They  are  all 
gathered  to  their  fathers.  It  is  a  pleasing  reflection  that 
they  were  numbered  with  that  noble  band,  who,  periling 
their  lives,  marched  shoulder  to  shoulder  against  the  common 
enemy  during  the  Kevolutionary  struggle.  Few  can  review 
their  family  records  with  less  fear  of  shame  or  more  just 
pride  and  satisfaction  than  the  Coopers.  They  have  all 
acted  well  their  parts  in  life.     Thus  much  for  the  Coopers. 

You  will  now  indulge  me  in  a  word  in  relation  to  the 
farmers,  I  believe  if  there  is  any  man  since  King  David 
after  God's  own  heart,  it  is  the  honest,  steady,  persevering 
farmer.  For  fifty  years  in  succession  I  have  been  laboring  on 
a  farm,  and  gaining  my  bread  by  the  sweat  of  my  brow.  I 
know  something  of  its  operations,  but  nothing  of  its  hard- 
ships when  compared  with  the  pioneers  of  the  town.  I  am 
filled  with  astonishment  when  I  reflect  upon  the  vast  amount 


51 

of  labor  performed  by  our  fathers  during  the  first  half  cent- 
ury. Their  farms  were  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  trees ; 
the  soil  was  hard  and  forbidding;  their  implements  were  few 
and  rudely  made;  and  their  resources  small,  save  their  own 
strong  and  persevering  wills  and  their  resolute  and  contented 
wives.  During  that  time,  houses  were  erected;  the  trees 
disappear;  the  stones  are  rolled  up  into  fences;  roads  are 
made;  bridges  are  thrown  across  the  streams;  school-houses 
are  built;  churches  are  erected;  a  minister  is  settled — and 
what  is  more,  is  paid;  and  large  families  are  raised  and  edu- 
cated. In  short  the  "wilderness  is  made  to  bud  and  blossom 
like  the  rose."  And  while  the  father  and  older  sons  were 
doing  this,  the  mother  and  daughters  were  in-doors  manu- 
facturing with  their  own  hands  the  fabrics  wherewith  to 
clothe  the  household.  There  was  then  no  Lowell  or  Man- 
chester with  their  mammoth  factories  throwing  off  their 
thousands  of  yards  a  day.  I  remember  the  process — the 
carding,  the  spinning,  the  twisting,  the  reeling,  the  sizing, 
the  bucking,  the  spooling,  the  sleiding,  the  drawing  in,  and 
the  quilling.  Then  the  mother  takes  the  loom-seat,  and 
throwing  the  shuttle  alternately  with  one  hand  and  catching 
it  with  the  other,  swinging  the  lathe  with  the  liberated  hand, 
and  springing  the  treadles  with  her  feet,  and  thus  she  rolled 
up  from  five  to  twenty  yards  a  day;  and  thus  was  wool  and 
flax  and  tow  converted  into  cloth  for  our  fathers.  It  was 
a  labor  honorable  to  our  sainted  mothers.  Poorly  can  the 
young  of  our  day  appreciate  their  labors  and  sacrifices,  and 
how  much  our  fathers  and  mothers  have  done  to  promote 
their  comfort  and  happiness.  Honorable  mention  might  be 
made  of  many  prominent  and  enterprising  farmers  that 
have  passed  away  since  my  recollection.     The  Whipples, 


52 

the  Wheelers,  the  Stows,  the  Jacobses,  the  Putnams,  the 
Ryders,  the  Powerses,  the  Bartons,  the  .  Humphreys,  and 
others  equally  worthy. 

One  or  two  instances  will  serve  to  give  us  an  insight  into 
the  actual  life  of  the  first  settlers. 

I  see  before  me  the  descendants  of  a  couple  that  early 
commenced  life  here.  They  had  but  just  purchased  them  a 
farm  and  cleared  up  a  small  portion  of  land,  when  by  acci- 
dent the  husband  was  disabled.  He  lingered  a  helpless  man 
for  three  years,  and  then  died.  And  now  what  shall  the 
wife  with  a  sick  husband,  five  small  children,  an  unsubdued 
form,  and  no  apparent  means  of  subsistence  do  ?  What 
but  call  upon  public  charity  or  her  friends  for  help  ?  She 
did  no  such  thing.  While  the  larger  children  took  care 
of  the  smaller  ones  she  plied  herself  to  her  loom  with  an 
assiduity  which  enabled  her  not  only  to  furnish  medicine 
and  advice  to  her  husband,  but  to  feed,  clothe  and  educate 
her  children.  Those  boys  grew  to  manhood,  and  were  among 
our  most  worthy  and  skillful  farmers.  That  farm  remained 
in  their  hands  for  more  than  sixty  years.  And  the  name  of 
the  heroine,  "  grandmarm"  Sanger,  deserves  to  be  cherished 
among  the  dearest  household  words. 

Mrs.  Fisher,  another  of  the  early  matrons  of  the  town, 
while  her  husband — who  was  necessarily  much  away  labor- 
ing to  procure  the  means  of  subsistence — was  gone,  would 
tie  one  child  in  the  chair,  while  with  her  infant  on  the  one 
arm,  and  her  milk-pail  on  the  other,  she  would  wend  her 
way  through  the  woods  to  her  cow, — a  mile  oif  in  the  nearest 
grass  plot, — milk  it,  and  recrossing  Sugar  River  (then  a  bold 
and  rapid  stream)  on  a  log,  hasten  back  to  her  child. 

One  more,  Peter  Powers,  not  yet  twenty-one  years  of  age, 


afc^^   ^^ 


^g^'^t 


53 

purchased  his  time,  and  was  married  to  Lois  Cooper,  a  lady 
still  younger  than  himself.  An  axe,  a  spinning-wheel  and  a 
loom  constituted  their  capital  stock.  At  the  end  of  twenty- 
five  years  they  had  cleared  up  three  hundred  acres  of  land, 
and  covered  it  with  luxuriant  grass,  waving  grain,  and  bleat- 
ing herds.  They  had  erected  three  houses,  two  mills,  a 
number  of  barns  and  other  buildings, — and  what  is  more, 
had  reared  and  most  thoroughly  educated  a  family  of  six 
children. 

But  I  must  not  dwell  longer  upon  these  reminiscences  of 
the  past.  As  I  close,  let  us  all  remember  how  truly  and 
wisely  it  has  been  said,  "  He  that  maketh  two  blades  of 
grass  to  grow  where  but  one  grew  before,  is  a  benefactor  of 
his  race." 

The  President.  We  have  been  listening  to  the  sons  of 
Croydon.  I  propose  that  we  now  listen  to  one  of  the  sons- 
in-law.  I  perceive  we  have  among  us  an  honored  guest  who 
was  so  unfortunate  as  not  to  be  born  in  town,  but  who,  nev- 
ertheless, has  made  the  best  amends  he  could  by  taking 
a  wife  who  was.  You  will  listen  to  the  Hon.  Moses 
Humphrey,  Ex-Mayor  of  Concord. 

Mr.  Humphrey  said  : 
Mr.  President,  and  Citizens  of  Croydon  : 

It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  meet  with  you  on  this  occasion. 
This  anniversary  does  not  come  often,  and  hence,  when  it 
does  occur,  it  is  all  the  more  pleasant  for  us  to  meet  together 
and  recall  past  scenes  and  renew  old  acquaintances.  In  re- 
sponse to  the  sentiment  with  which  your  President  saw  fit 
to  introduce  me,  I  would  say,  I  am  happy  to  acknowledge 
myself  largely  indebted  to  the  influence  and  advice  of  one 


54 

of  your  girls,  who  has  shared  with  me  the  joys  and  trials  of 
life  for  thirty-four  years.  Let  me  say  to  you,  sir,  that  my 
success  in  life  is  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  good  practical 
common  sense  and  right  influence  which  has  come  to  me 
through  my  wife,  who  is  a  native  of  this  good  old  town  of 
Croydon.  In  1843  I  became  a  citizen  of  this  place,  and 
remained  with  you  nine  years.  Coming  from  the  old  Plym- 
outh Colony,  down  on  the  seaboard,  1  found  your  ways  and 
habits  widely  different  from  those  to  which  I  had  been  ac- 
customed. I  found  here  a  farming  community.  The  one 
which  I  left  had  but  little  of  agriculture — there  the  people 
were  mainly  engaged  in  commercial  and  mechanical  pur- 
suits. I  am  greatly  indebted  to  you  for  many  valuable  hints 
which  I  received  while  here  and  which  have  been  of  great 
advantage  to  me  in  the  various  positions  of  trust  and  honor 
to  which  I  have  been  called  since  I  left  you.  Another  thing 
which  perhaps  served  still  more  strongly  to  attach  me  to 
this  place,  was  the  fact  that  then,  as  now  and  all  along,  our 
political  views  have  been  in  perfect  harmony.  In  conclusion, 
let  me  thank  you  for  the  opportunity  of  being  with  you  on 
this  pleasant  occasion.  The  remembrance  of  this  day  I 
shall  carry  with  me  to  my  grave. 

The  President. — I  think  that  we  ought  not  to  proceed 
further  this  afternoon  without  the  "  benefit  of  clergy."  I 
now  call  upon  one  to  whose  voice  we  all  listen  with  pleasure, 
a  native  of  this  town,  and  whose  presence  we  are  glad  to 
welcome  here — Rev.  Luther  J.  Fletcher,  of  Maine. 

Mr.  Fletcher  said : 

Our  brothers  and  sisters,  who  have  remained  upon  the 
soil  where  we  all  sported  in  childhood,  but  from  which  many 


55 

of  us  have  been  induced  to  wander,  have  invited  us  all  home 
again,  that  we  may  join  them  in  congratulations  to  the  dear 
old  Mother,  who  observes  to-day  her  diamond  wedding. 
Their  invitations  we  heard  from  afar  ;  and  with  long-cher- 
ished fondness  for  the  place  which  gave  us  birth,  with  broth- 
erly and  sisterl)'  affection  for  those  who  sent  us  such  friendly 
greetings,  we  gather  here  from  the  North  and  the  South, 
the  East  and  the  West,  on  the  spot  where  the  first  settlers 
wedded  the  bride  of  their  choice,  to  deposit  our  gifts  and 
speak  our  rejoicings. 

I  am  sorry  that  Croydon  receives  us  to-day  with  tears  in 
her  eyes  ;*  but  aged  mothers  do  this,  sometimes,  when  as 
their  sons  and  daughters  come  home  after  a  long  absence, 
their  hearts  overflow  with  gladness,  and  they  weep  for  joy. 
There  is  something  of  sadness  in  such  a  welcome,  yet  none 
the  less  of  love.  Let  us  therefore  accept  these  tears  as  the 
best  welcome  which,  under  the  circumstances,  we  could  ex- 
pect, and  only  hope  that  when,  a  hundred  years  from  this, 
we  come  to  her  second  Centennial,  the  good  mother  will  give 
us  nothing  but  smiles. 

I  repeat  that  we  have  come  to  exchange  the  expressions 
of  an  exalted  friendship.  _  That  is  most  exalted  which 
is  most  pure,  and  the  friendships  formed  in  youth  are 
the  purest  and  most  lasting  of  any  we  enjoy  or  exercise, 
in  this  life.  That  they  are  lasting,  we  have,  to-day, 
many  demonstrations.  Such  friendships  have  lived,  while 
we  have  been  unconscious  of  their  presence  in  the  heart,  and 
though  thrust  aside  for  a  time,  into  some  obscure  corner,  and 
almost  forgotten,  they  have  been  awakened  by  the  power  of 
association  and  made  to  act  with  such  force  as  to  sway  all 

*When.th9  speech  was  made,  the  sky  was  overcast,  and  it  began  to  rain. 


56 

the  purposes  of  the  soul.  We  have  met  with  those,  this 
morning,  very  dear  to  us  in  childhood  or  youth,  but  who,  be- 
cause of  long  absence,  had  not  been  present  to  our  thoughts 
for  many  years  ;  yet  our  love  for  them  had  not  expired,  but 
only  waited  to  be  called  into  action,  when  we  found  it  as 
fresh,  warm  and  gushing  as  in  auld  Lang  Syne. 

This  is  a  day  of  unusual  re-awakenings,  and  as  the  past 
gives  back  to  us  its  treasures  of  long  forgotten  scenes,  we 
are  rejuvenated  and  live  once  more  in  the  long  ago.  0,  how 
the  sight  of  a  familiar  face, — changed,  indeed,  by  twenty  or 
thirty  years,  yet  still  familiar, — or  the  sound  of  a  voice  unlike 
any  other  we  have  heard  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  has  this 
day  taken  us  back  to  the  scenes  of  our  childhood,  and  flood- 
ed the  soul  with  sweet  remembrances  !  There  is  one  who 
was  our  schoolmate  !  How  many  times  have  we  striven  to- 
gether for  the  head  of  the  class  !  How  many  days,  sitting 
side  by  side  in  the  old  red  school-house,  have  we  conspired  to 
elude  the  vigilance  of  the  teacher,  and  cheat  him  of  a  part 
of  the  study  he  had  required  of  us,  little  thinking  that  w^ 
were  only  cheating  ourselves  !  How  we  coasted,  skated, 
fished  and  swam  together,  from  year  to  year  !  He  is  not  the 
boy  he  then  was.  A  young  man  at  his  side  calls  him  father. 
Can  it  be  possible  ?  And  have  we  changed,  in  his  sight,  as 
he  in  ours  ? 

Ah !  there  is  one,  who  was  a  young  man  when  I  was  a 
boy.  Many  a  time  I  listened  to  his  voice  as  he  sang  with 
my  father, — now  a  member  of  the  choir  above, — and  though 
he  has  exchanged  the  red  roses  of  blooming  cheeks  for  the 
white  lilies  of  age,  his  countenance  bears  its  familiar  ex- 
pression, and  his  smile  is  the  same  as  it  was  full  thirty  years 
ago  !     How  many  scenes  are  revived  by  that  smile  !    How 


57 

many  faces  appear  in  the  halls  of  memory,  summoned  from 
the  obscurity  in  which  they  have  long  been  hanging,  by  the 
presence  of  that  well-remembered  face !  Welcome,  wel- 
come, old  friends ! 

Shadowy  as  are  many  of  your  forms  and  faces,  unsubstan- 
tial as  is  the  vision  in  which  ye  seem  to  rise  before  me,  1  bid 
you  all  welcome  to  this  grand  festival — this  renewal  of  old 
friendships — this  first  Centennial  of  our  native  town  ! 

And  may  we  not  believe  that  those  whom  memory  does 
not  recall — those  who  lived  here  before  the  days  of  our  earli- 
est years,  the  first  settlers  in  this  beautiful  vaUey — are  with 
us  here  to-day,  though  we  see  them  not,  smiling  upon  the 
achievements  of  a  century,  more  fully  apparent  to  them  than 
to  us,  and  happy  in  the  thought,  that  like  Old  Mortality, 
we,  their  descendants,  are  relettering  their  tombstones,  and 
helping  by  these  ceremonies  to  give  their  name  and  fame  to 
another  hundred  years  ?  If  it  be  so,  then  happy  are  those 
who,  standing  in  the  presence  of  assembled  generations,  can 
fee]  that  by  noble  efforts  and  virtuous  lives,  they  command 
the  benedictions  of  their  honored  sires. 

But  Croydon  is,  to-day,  impartial  in  her  favors  to  those 
who  call  her  mother.  Her  invitation  went  forth  to  all  her 
children,  and  those  who  came  home  at  her  call  are  cordially 
welcome.  She  does  not  ask  if  all  are  equally  worthy.  She 
does  not  admit  us  to  seats  of  exaltation  determined  by  the 
measure  of  our  intellect,  or  by  our  past  good  deeds.  She  does 
not  inquire  if  we  be  orthodox  or  heterodox,  rich  or  poor, 
democrats  or  republicans.  It  is  enough,  if  at  our  birth  we 
were  sealed  as  her  children.  Some  may  have  been  indolent, 
some  unfortunate,  some  prodigals  ;  but  the  dear  old  mother 
welcomes  all  to-day  as  her  sons  and  daughters,  and  the  tears 


58 

she  may  have  shed  for  our  past  misdeeds  are  all  forgotten  in 
the  joy  that  we  have  kept  her  in  fond  remembrance,  and  at 
her  call  have  all  come  home  again. 

Oh,  happy,  suggestive  thought !  We  have  all  been  wan- 
derers from  the  home  of  youthful  purity — from  a  higher  and 
diviner  Parent  than  is  the  mother  of  whom  I  have  been 
speaking ;  and  when  the  cycle  of  His  century  shall  be  com- 
plete, and  the  jubilee  of  redemption  shall  come,  will  not  his 
impartial  grace  extend  invitations  to  all  his  children,  and  as 
the  prodigals  obey  the  summons  and  hasten  home,  will  He 
not  bid  them  welcome,  and  in  the  joy  of  their  return, 
remember  their  misdeeds  no  more  forever  ? 

For  such  a  consummation  let  us  both  hope  and  pray  ;  and 
in  joyous  anticipation  of  a  universal  re-uniOn,  cherish  the 
memory  of  all  our  loved  ones  in  the  earth,  that  the  joy  of 
our  meeting  in  the  spirit-land  shall  be  enhanced  by  our 
enlarged  and  ever-growing  affection  for  each  other  in  the 
present  life. 

As  I  have  looked  on  the  assemblage  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Croydon,  and  have  felt  the  power  of  an  unseen 
influence  attaching  me  to  this  place  of  my  birth,  as  to  no 
other  spot  on  earth,  the  question  has  more  than  once  arisen 
in  my  mind  touching  the  cause  of  the  sweet  attraction,  and 
just  now  the  satisfactory  answer  comes  to  me.  It  is  not 
that  Croydon  is  a  town  remarkable  for  its  beautiful  scenery, 
classic  grounds  or  famous  institutions, — not  that  her  fields 
are  richer,  or  her  children  nobler  than  those  of  other  towns 
in  the  dear  old  Granite  State,  but  chiefly,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
because  this  was  our  cradle — the  place  in  which  we  first 
knew  the  blessing  of  parental  love — in  which,  beneath  the 
fond  nursings  and  unremitted  watchfulness  of  father  and 


59 

mother,  we  made  our  first  essays  in  observation,  opened  our 
eyes  to  behold  the  light  of  surrounding  objects,  and  com- 
menced the  development  of  our  infant  powers — the  place 
where  our  feeble  thoughts  were  first  turned  towards  God, 
and  in  which  with  little  hands  clasped  and  eyes  uplifted,  we 
were  taught  to  say  our  infant  prayers. 

There  are  no  thoughts  of  a  whole  life  so  sacred  as  those 
which  go  back  to  such  beginnings,  and  they  hallow  every 
thing  associated  with  them.  In  our  manhood  and  woman- 
hood we  sometimes  overhaul  the  rubbish  of  our  father's 
back-chamber  or  the  attic,  until  we  come  upon  the  cradle  in 
which  we  were  rocked.  It  may  be  old-fashioned  and  out  of 
repair ;  it  may  be  covered  with  dust  and  cobwebs  ;  the 
smoke  of  the  old  kitchen  may  be  seen  upon  its  paint ;  and 
its  rockers,  by  much  use,  be  worn  almost  flat ;  but  the  sight 
of  it  awakens  fond  and  sacred  recollections,  and  as  we  bring 
it  out  into  the  light  and  sit  down  to  gaze  upon  it,  sweet 
words  and  loved  faces  are  given  us  from  the  past,  the  song 
of  the  mother's  husJiaby  is  in  our  ears  again,  and  that  old 
cradle,  not  for  what  it  is,  but  for  what  it  has  been  to  us,  is 
the  dearest  thing  on  earth.  So,  in  a  certain  sense,  is  this 
old  town  to  those  who  were  born  here.  It  is  not  in  any 
sense  a  splendid  place.  It  has  not  been  extensively  mod- 
ernized. The  dust  of  old  usages  clings  to  it,  and  some  who 
are  being  cradled  here  may  think  that  it  rocks  hard  ;  yet  the 
sight  of  it  brings  back  the  days  of  our  earliest  recollections, 
and  we  love  it  because  it  is  our  cradle. 

Imagination  may  have  an  undue  influence  in  the  processes 
of  my  mind  at  the  present  time,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  all 
around  us,  floating  on  the  breath  of  this  June  morning,  and 
echoing  on  these  hills,  are  the  words  of  her,  now  singing 


60    . 

with  the  angels, — words  which  we  have  sung  to  our  own 
children,  or  taught  them  as  their  evening  prayer — 

"  IIuBh,  my  dear,  Ho  still  and  slumber, 
Holy  angels  guard  thy  bed," 

or: 

"  Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep, 
I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep." 

I  believe  there  is  a  saving  power  in  the  associations  which 
flood  the  soul  with  such  memories, — and  let  me  say,  in  con- 
clusion, that  those  of  us  who  carry  the  most  of  the  spirit  of 
this  hour  into  the  days  and  years  of  our  future  lives  in  the 
earth,  will  best  do  justice  to  the  past,  and  honor  our  native 
town  in  years  to  come. 

Grod  bless  the  dear  old  cradle  of  our  infancy  !  May  holy 
angels  watch  its  future  destiny  from  the  summits  of  the  sur- 
rounding mountain  towers,  that  it  may  be  beautiful,  honor- 
able, prosperous,  when,  in  spirit  if  not  in  flesh,  we  assemble 
here  again  at  the  end  of  another  hundred  years  ! 

The  President. — We  have  present  a  guest  from  the 
queen  city  of  New  England,  and  a  son  of  Benjamin  Barton, 
junior,  who  I  trust  will  give  us  some  account  of  the  Barton 
family  and  their  early  adventures.  You  will  hear  Alexan- 
der Barton,  Esq.,  of  Boston. 

Mr.  Barton  said  : 
Mr.  President,  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  : 

Under  other  circumstances  I  should  ask  to  be  excused, 
but  as  you  ask  me  to  respond  in  behalf  of  the  descendants 
of  Benjamin  Barton,  I  will  do  so  as  briefly  as  I  may.  My 
grandfather  Benjamin  Barton,  senior,  lived  at  Sutton,  Mass., 
entered  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  died  at  Bunker 
HiU. 


.ilf,^^     ^'!)a^ 


V"\' 


61 

My  father  Benjamin  Barton,  Jr.,  was  born  at  Sutton,Mass., 
in  1755.  He  had  few  early  advantages,  no  opportunity  for 
schooling  ;  learned  to  "write  and  cipher  on  birch  bark.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  the  Eevolutionary  army  and 
was  at  Bunker  Hill,  Bennington,  West  Point  and  New 
York  city.  In  1779  he  returned  to  Royalston,  Mass.,  and 
married  Mehitable  Fry.  The  next  year  he  went  to  New- 
bury, Vt.,  to  look  for  a  new  home.  After  a  vain  search  of 
three  weeks,  traveling  by  the  aid  of  marked  trees,  he  return- 
ed as  far  as  Croydon,  and  here  purchased  him  a  farm.  In 
1783,  he  spent  six  weeks  clearing  up  the  land  and  making 
preparations  for  a  settlement,  with  a  hollow  log  only  for 
a  shelter,  and  bears  and  wolves  for  his  nearest  and  most 
numerous,  if  not  most  intimate  neighbors.  In  March,  1784, 
they  started  for  their  wilderness-home.  Behold  the  picture  ! 
A  young  wife,  who  had  been  as  tenderly  reared  as  any  of  her 
day,  seated  on  an  ox  sled,  her  three  children  with  her, — on 
the  one  side,  a  daughter  of  four  years,  on  the  other,  a  lad  of 
two,  and  in  her  arms  an  infant  son  ;  on  that  sled  were  all 
their  household  effects,  and  behind  was  tied  the  cow.  After 
surmounting  many  difficulties  they  arrived  at  Unity.  Here 
the  roads  were  so  drifted  that  they  were  obliged  to  make  a 
change  and  harness  their  oxen  tandem.  They  arrived  at 
Croydon  on  the  ninth  day,  accomplishing  a  journey  of  sixty- 
five  miles. 

They  had  occupied  their  log  cabin  but  a  short  time,  when 
a  rude  storm  scattered  the  bark,  of  which  the  roof  was  com- 
posed, to  the  four  winds  and  obliged  them,  through  snow 
waist  deep,  with  their  children  in  their  arms,  to  seek  shelter 
in  a  neighboring  cabin  three-fourths  of  a  mile  away. 

My  father  commenced  public  life  in  1786,  two  years  after 


62 

his  arrival.  He  was  elected  Kepresentative  a  number  of 
years,  was  Selectman  some  twenty,  Moderator  and  Town 
Clerk  a  great  number,  and  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  from 
1798  to  the  period  of  his  death  which  occurred  July  9,  1834. 

Cbildken  of  Benjamin  Barton.— Phebe  born  Apr.  21, 1780.  Benj.  born  Feb.  22, 1782. 
John  born  Feb.  17,  1784.  Peter  born  May  17,  1785.  Ruth  born  Aug.  6, 1788.  Fry  born 
Oct.  30, 1790.  Susan  born  Sept.  16, 1792.  Phila  born  Aug.  17, 1794.  Cyrus  born  Dec.  25, 
1795.  David  born  March  23,  1800.  Reuben  born  June  5, 1802.  Alexander  born  June  14, 
1804. 

The  Pbesident. — The  name  of  Kev,  Jacob  Haven  will 
be  known  and  reverenced  while  these  hills  and  valleys  are 
inhabited.  For  half  a  century  he  did  not  fail  to  speak  the 
words  of  truth  and  soberness  to  this  people.  His  voice  is 
now  silent,  but  you  will  be  glad  to  listen  to  his  son, 
Capt.  Moses  Haven,  of  Plainfield. 

Mr.  Haven  responded : 

Mr.  President : 

No  spot  on  earth  is  so  dear  to  man  as  the  place  where  he 
was  born  and  where  were  spent  the  hours  of  his  infancy  and 
childhood.  In  common  with  you  all,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
I  partake  most  fully  of  this  sentiment  to-day.  Here  were 
spent  the  hours  of  my  boyhood.  These  hills  witnessed  my 
childish  sports  and  pleasures.  These  fields  and  meadows 
and  ponds  and  mountains,  seem  almost  my  brothers. 

It  was  here  that,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  I  entered  the 
militia  and  was  shortly  after  elected  sergeant,  and  by  regular 
gradations  rose  to  be  Captain,  and  thought  I  had  achieved 
wonders.  When  I  was  chosen  chorister,  a  position  which  I 
held  for  a  long  time,  I  felt  greatly  honored;  and  when  by  the 
partiality  of  my  fellow-townsmen  I  was  elected  one  of  the 
selectmen  of  the  town,  I  felt  I  had  reached  almost  the  last 
round  in  the  ladder  of  my  ambition. 


63 

These  achievements  ia  the  eyes  of  the  world  may  not 
seem  much,  but  to  my  young  fancy  it  was  far  otherwise. 
Since  then  I  have  been  out  into  the  world  doing  battle  with 
the  stern  duties  of  maturer  life,  until  the  weight  of  years 
now  presses  heavily  upon  me  ;  and  yet,  I  must  say,  no  after 
achievements  have  afforded  me  a  pleasure  like  these,  I 
have  mingled  in  no  other  scenes  so  sweet,  have  found  no 
other  spot  so  dear. 

Around  yonder  hill,  in  the  grave-yard,  rests  my  reverend 
and  venerated  father,  that  sainted  mother  who  dandled  me 
in  my  infancy,  two  loved  companions  and  many  other  cher- 
ished friends.  It  is  a  dear  spot  to  me.  And  there,  beside 
them,  I  have  directed  shall  be  my  last  earthly  resting  place. 

I  now  close  by  thanking  God  that  I  have  been  permitted 
to  live  until  this  day,  so  that  I  may  meet  so  many  of  my 
old  companions,  and  mingle  in  these  joyous  scenes. 

Keene,  Aug.  24th,  1866. 
Dear  Brother  : — If,  as  you  suggest,  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  who  carried  through  the  Croydon  Centennial 
Celebration  so  successfully,  desire  to  have  the  fragments  of 
our  Feast  gathered  up  for  preservation,  I  can  see  no  objec- 
tion to  it.  Aud  I  will  furnish  a  sketch  of  what  was  said  by 
me  in  the  opening.  But  the  whole  loaves  should  be  saved, 
as  well  as  what  remains  of  those  distributed.  And  the 
speeches  prepared  by  Dr.  Whipple  and  yourself,  and  per- 
haps others, — but  not  delivered  on  account  of  the  inclemency 
of  the  day, — should  be  included,  as  well  as  the  portions  omit- 
ted by  other  speakers  for  the  same  reason.  I  shall  set  the 
example  by  sending  what  was  said  and  what  was  omitted,  at 
the  outset. 

Very  truly  yours, 

WM.  P.  WHEELER. 


64 

In  accordance  with  the  foregoing  suggestion  from  the 
President  of  the  day,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  I  insert  the  following  speeches: 

Speech  of  John  Cooper,  Esq.,  of  Croydon. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

Allusion  in  flattering  terms  has  been  made  to  my  poor 
efforts  to  rescue  from  oblivion  the  names,  labors,  and  charac- 
ters of  some  of  the  first  settlers  of  Croydon.  What  I  have 
done  in  that  direction,  hfis  brought  its  own  reward  with  it ; 
for  it  has  afforded  me  much  pleasure  to  collect  the  facts  re- 
specting your  ancestors  and  mine.  I  venerate  the  memories 
of  those  men  and  women  who  were  the  pioneers  of  civiliza- 
tion in  this  town  ;  and  the  better  I  have  become  acquainted 
with  their  history,  the  more  I  have  admired  their  courage  in 
leaving  the  older  settlements  of  Massachusetts  and  coming 
to  this  place — then  a  howling  wilderness — for  the  purpose  of 
providing  for  themselves  "  a  local  habitation  and  a  name." 
Their  children  and  their  children's  children  should,  on  this 
commemorative  occasion,  rise  up  and  bless  their  memories. 
But  I  will  leave  it  to  others  older  than  myself,  to  eulogize 
the  Whipples,  Powerses,  Lelands,  Halls,  Bartons,  Wheelers, 
Havens,  and  others  who  came  to  this  town  nearly  one  hun- 
dred years  ago,  while  I  confine  myself  to  a  few  brief  remarks 
concerning  my  paternal  grandfather,  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  this  town. 

Deacon  John  Cooper  was  born  in  1725  ;  he  married  Mary 
Sherman,  of  Grafton,  Mass.,  in  1748,  and  the  same  year 
settled  in  Hardwick,  Mass.  While  living  there  he  divided 
his  time  between  the  cultivation  of  a  farm  and  teaching  the 
"  town  school."     During  the  "  French  and   Indian  War," 


'65 

from  1754  to  1763,  he  was  also  engaged  largely  in  supplying 
the  English  and  Provincial  troops  with  beef.  In  1769  he 
removed  to  Cornish,  N.  H.,  and  the  year  following  he  came 
to  this  place — four  years  only  after  the  first  settlement  of 
the  town.  His  locating  here  added  but  little  to  the  mate- 
rial wealth  of  the  place  (for  he  was  a  man  of  a  broken  for- 
tune), but  he  brought  with  him  what  was  of  more  value  than 
money,  namely,  an  intelligent  and  energetic  wife  and  eight 
healthy  children.  He  settled  on  a  spot  within  sight  of  this 
stand,  where  Otis  Cooper,  Esq.,  one  of  his  lineal  descendants, 
now  resides.  There  he  lived  ;  and  there,  in  1805,  he  closed 
his  earthly  labors  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty  years.  His 
remains  now  rest  in  the  "  Old  Burial  Ground  on  the  Hill." 

Tradition  does  not  represent  the  character  of  Dea.  Cooper 
as  perfectly  well-balanced.  He  did  not  possess  that  courage 
— that  backbone,  necessary  to  face  danger  of  every  kind 
without  flinching.  But  he  was  distinguished  for  honesty, 
sobriety,  love  of  order,  and  for  full  an  average  share  of 
common  sense.  As  far  as  energy  and  decision  of  character 
were  concerned,  his  wife  was  the  better  man  of  the  two. 
But  still  his  abilities  were  considered  above  the  general 
level,  as  the  early  records  will  show  ;  for  he  was  chosen 
repeatedly  Town  Clerk,  and  was  often  elected  one  of  the 
selectmen,  and  several  times  chairman  of  the  board. 

He  ruled  his  own  house  well,  and  was  in  other  respects 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  office  of  deacon.  He  held  that 
office  forty-seven  years — twenty  years  in  Hardwick,  and 
twenty-seven  years  in  this  town.  It  is  the  concurrent  testi- 
mony of  tradition  that  Dea.  John  Cooper  was  a  faithful 
and  an  efficient  church  officer. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  add  that,  in  consequence  of  his  chil- 


66 

dren's  intermarrying  with  the  families  around  them,  the 
Cooper  blood  has  become  so  intermingled  with  that  of 
almost  every  other  name,  that  standing  here  to-day  and 
looking  at  the  vast  concourse  before  me,  I  can  claim  you 
all  as  cousins. 

Speech  of  S.  M.  Whipple,  M.  D.,  of  New  London. 

Mr.  President : 

It  is  with  mingled  feelings  of  diffidence  and  confidence, 
that  I  present  myself  before  you  on  this  joyous  occasion  to 
respond  in  behalf  of  the  medical  profession.  It  is  with  dif- 
fidence 'when  I  recollect  that  the  practice  of  medicine  does 
not  require  the  possession,  or  exercise,  of  those  powers  of 
eloquence  which  can  arrest  the  attention  of  a  large  audience 
and  hold  them  spell-bound  at  will,  and  hence  I  might  fail  to 
interest  you;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  with  confidence 
when  I  feel  that  we  have  all  gathered  around  this  old  fami- 
ly altar,  not  to  criticise,  but  to  exchange  friendly  greetings, 
and  be  happy,  and  hence  that  any  voice  is  welcome,  if  only 
it  be  the  voice  of  a  son,  or  daughter  of  Croydon. 

From  the  first  attempts  to  heal  diseases.  Medicine  began 
to  exist  as  a  profession.  From  the  earliest  antiquity  it  will 
compare  most  favorably  with  the  other  professions.  Aristo- 
tle, Lock,  Hartley,  Mackintosh  and  Brown — all  standing 
high  on  the  roll  of  fame — were  all  physicians. 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  on  this  occasion  to  refer  a 
moment  to  the  profession  as  it  has  existed  in  this  town. 
Tradition  says  that  during  the  first  third  of  a  century, 
Croydon  had  no  regular  bred  physician,  and  that  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  was  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  females. 
Originally,  and  for  many  years  it  was  given  to  Mrs.  Phineas 


67 

Sanger  "  to  heal  diseases  and  minister  to  the  distressed." 
And  then  came  Mrs.  Sarah  Powers,  wife  of  Amos  Hagar,  a 
woman  of  uncommon  intellectual  and  physical  powers. 
That  she  had  some  weight  in  town  is  sufficiently  evinced  by 
the  fact  that  she  could  make  a  scale  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  avoirdupoise,  honest  weight,  kick  the  beam.  On 
her  favorite  steed  she  promptly  answered  all  calls  in  storms, 
in  winter,  and  by  night.  True  she  was  less  skilled  in  the 
books  than  the  Crosbys  and  the  Peaslees  of  to-day,  yet 
her  strong  common  sense  and  ready  judgment  seldom  failed 
to  do  the  right  thing  in  the  right  way. 

First  among  the  trained  physicians — for  I  am  old  enough 
to  recollect  him  in  his  more  advanced  years — comes  the  plain 
straight  forward,  practical  Carroll,  who,  riding  over  these 
hills,  with  his  saddle-bags,  on  horseback,  was  a  most  welcome 
visitor  in  every  sick  room.  And  I  have  not  forgotten  the  sad 
accident — the  upsetting  of  his  carriage  on  yonder  hill — which 
ended  his  life.  And  I  remember  the  more  learned  Gustin 
that  followed  him — and  Alden,  and  Cooper,  and  Leavitt,  and 
Coburn,  and  Hall.  Of  Marsh  and  Barton,  now  here,  I  need 
not  speak,  for  you  all  know  them  better  than  I  do. 

Croydon  has  contributed  more  men  to  medicine  than  to 
either  of  the  other  learned  professions.  Few  towns  in  the 
State  have  furnished  comparatively  so  many  eminent  and 
skillful  physicians  and  so  few  quacks  as  this.  Her  Coopers, 
her  Wheelers,  her  Gibsons  and  her  Powerses,  in  their  pro- 
fessional acquirements,  rank  deservedly  high.  And  hence  it 
is  that  wherever  they  go  you  will  find  them  enjoying  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  community  in  which  they 
reside.  Sir,  I  am  proud  of  the  medical  profession,  and  I 
am  proud  of  the  success  that  has  attended  those  sons  of 
Croydon  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  so  noble  a  calling. 


68 

Speech  of  Edmund  Wheeler,  of  Newport. 
Mr.  President : 

I  am  happy  to  respond  in  behalf  of  the  mechanics  of 
Croydon.  I  have  always  regarded  the  mechanic  arts  as 
among  the  most  useful  and  honorable  occupations  of  man. 
I  have  long  regarded  Franklin  and  Fulton  and  Morse,  men 
who  first  harnessed  the  steam  power  and  the  lightning,  and 
others  like  them,  as  among  the  greatest  benefactors  of  our 
race. 

Well  do  I  remember  the  names  and  faces  of  those  me- 
chanics who  flourished  here  some  half  century  ago — the 
KemptoBS,  the  Humphrys,  the  Eastmans,  the  Fletchers, 
the  Dodges  and  others.  To-day  I  almost  hear  these  hills 
echoing  back  the  hearty  ring  of  their  hammers,  their  lap- 
stones  and  their  anvils. 

We  do  not  often  consider  how  very  much  we  are  indebted 
to  the  mechanic  for  all  the  ordinary  blessings  and  luxuries 
of  life.  For  example,  how  very  much  it  would  detract  from 
the  dignity  and  elegance  of  this  vast  audience  were  we  to 
take  away  from  them  the  handiwork  of  the  milliner,  the 
dressmaker  and  the  tailor,  and  carry  them  back  to  the  prim- 
itive days  when  fig-leaves  only  were  worn  in  Eden.  Nor  are 
these  outward  adomings,  charming  though  they  be,  all  we 
owe  the  mechanic — but  the  tables  around  which  we  gather, 
the  chairs  in  which  we  sit,  the  beds  on  which  we  sleep,  the 
beautiful  carriages  in  which  we  ride,  and  the  grand  old  man- 
sions which  shelter  our  heads,  and  around  which  cluster  so 
many  thousand  sweet  memories,  are  also  the  work  of  his 
hand. 

Take  away  from  the  farmer  his  hoe,  his  shovel,  his  axe, 
his  plow,  and  his  cart,  and  you  have  robbed  him  of  his 
strength  and  paralyzed  his  labors. 


69 

Take  away  from  the  clergyman,  the  lawyer,  and  the  phy- 
sician those  immense  libraries  of  their's  in  which  are  garner- 
ed up  all  the  wisdom  of  ages,  and  their  light  would  be 
comparative  darkness — they  would  be  no  longer  the  learned 
professions  they  now  are. 

Look  also  at  the  telegraph  and  the  steam-press.  That 
thought  of  the  philosopher  which  otherwise  would  have  fall- 
en almost  still-born  from  his  lips,  or  hardly  have  reached 
beyond  the  sound  of  his  own  voice,  is  seized  upon  by  the 
telegraph  and  the  steam-press  and  in  twenty-four  hours  is 
giving  joy  and  blessings  to  a  million  homes  all  over  the 
land.  Yes,  the  press,  that  mighty  engine  of  power,  invent- 
ed and  wielded  by  the  mechanic,  has  gathered  up  the  choice 
works  of  art,  science,  poetry,  history,  literature,  and  above 
all  of  inspiration,  and  multiplied  them  a  million  fold  and 
scattered  them  abroad  until  the  whole  earth  is  literally  flood- 
ed with  light. 

I  might  also  point  you  to  the  mammoth  factories  which 
he  has  erected,  and  filled  with  machinery  almost  endowed 
with  intelligence,  and  which  are  throwing  off  their  thousand 
varied  products  for  the  benefit  of  man.  But  why  need  I 
stop  to  enumerate  ? 

As  on  the  land  so  also  on  the  water  :  It  is  with  his  leave 
that  the  navies  of  the  world  are  to-day  so  proudly  walking 
the  ocean;  and  it  is  by  his  permission  that  commerce 
spreads  her  white  wings  and  carries  her  countless  treasures 
all  over  the  world. 

But  I  need  utter  no  language  in  commendation  of  the 
mechanic.  His  glory  is  proclaimed  not  by  spoken  words, 
but  in  the  proud  monuments  of  his  skill  and  industry 
everywhere  around  us. 


70 

As  I  close,  allow  me  to  say  that  those  sons  of  Croydon 
who  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  mechanic  arts,  have 
done  their  full  share  towards  maintaining  the  honor  of  their 
native  town. 


A  vote  of  thanks  was  passed  to  the  Orator,  the  President, 
the  Band,  the  Glee  Club,  and  all  others  who  had  aided  in 
the  celebration. 

The  audience  then  all  rose  and  united  in  singing  Old 
Hundred. 

Three  cheers  were  then  given  for  the  Old  Century,  three 
for  the  New,  three  for  the  Ladies,  and  three  for  the  Coun- 
try. After  which  a  vote  to  adjourn  to  June  13,  1966,  was 
unanimously  carried  amid  the  wildest  acclamation. 


J^ 


Wk 


C.  K.  FLKTCHER. 

0.  COOPER. 

n.  n.\Li.. 

R  conpv.n. 

n.  r.iPF.n. 

n.  C.  WHTPPI.E. 

D.  HOirnRET. 

E.  POWERS. 

J.  COOPtR. 

4 


71 


Officers  and  Committees. 


Freoldent  of  the  Day, 

Hon.  WILLIAM  P.  WHEELER,  of  Keene. 


Vice-Presidents, 

Hon.  Moses  Humphry, 

Alexander  Barton,  Esq., 

Levi  W.  Barton,  Esq., 

Adolphus  Hall,  Esq.,  - 

Calvin  Hall,  Esq., 

Capt.  Arial  Hall, 

Hon.  Orra  Crosby, 

Freeman  Cutting,  Esq.,- 

Orlando  Powers,  Esq., 

Elom  Marsh,  Esq.,  _        -        - 

Ruel  Durkee,  Esq., 

Samuel  Blanchard,  Esq.,    - 

Wm.  E.  Melendy,  Esq.,  - 

Elijah  Gr.  Ryder,  Esq., 

Capt.  Moses  Haven,    -        -        - 

Wm.  F.  Cooper,  M.  D., 

Hiram  Smart,  Esq.,  -        -        - 

Jonas  C.  Kempton,  Esq., 

Warren  M.  Kempton,  Esq.,   - 


Concord. 

Boston. 

Newport. 

Grantham. 

Lowell,  Mass. 

Williamstown,  Vt. 

Hardwick,  Vt. 

Claremont. 

Cornish. 

Westmoreland. 

Croydon. 

Croydon. 

Springfield. 

Sunapee. 

-     Plainfield. 

Kelloggville,  N.  Y. 

Nashua. 

Nashua. 

-  Concord. 


William 


Cliiief  Marsbal) 

CAPT.  NATHAN  HALL. 

Assistant  IVarsIials, 

W.    Ryder,    Martin    A.    Barton,    Esqs., 
Major  Dexter  G.  Reed. 


Committee  of  Arransrements, 

Col.  OTIS  COOPER,  BARNABAS  C.  WHIPPLE, 

REUBEN  COOPER,  CYRUS  K.  FLETCHER, 

Capt.  DANIEL  R.  HALL,  JOHN  COOPER, 

DANIEL  RYDER,  Esq.,  NATHAN  HALL. 

Capt.  WORTHEN  HALL, 

Committee  of  liadies. 


Mes.  HUBBARD  COOPER, 
Mrs.  OREAN  LOVERIN, 
Mrs.  INGALLS  HEATH, 
Me3.  REUBEN  COOPER, 
Mes.  NATHAN  HALL, 
Mes.  JOHN  HURD, 
Mes.  DANIEL  IDE, 


Mrs.  WORTHEN  HALL, 

Mes.  wm.  RYDER, 

Mes.  E.  DARWIN  COMMINGS, 

Mrs.  JAS.  BOYCE, 

Miss  THANKFUL  RYDER, 

Miss  ANGENETTA  HARDING, 

Mes.  OILMAN  STOCKWELL. 


72 


PERSONAL   SKETCHES. 


The  following  pages  contain  brief  sketches  of  the  former 
and  present  families  of  Croydon,  arranged  in  alphabetical 
order.  They  have  been  made  as  full  as  the  .data  at  hand 
and  the  room  at  our  disposal  permits. 


Jacob  Ames  and  Simon  Ames  settled  on  farms  on  the 
north-east  slope  of  the  Pinnacle.  The  former  had  previous- 
ly been  a  saddler,  at  which  occupation  he  had  amassed  quite 
a  handsome  little  fortune.  He  married  Sally,  daughter  of 
Darius  Hall,  and  died  at  Newport,  leaving  a  large  family. 

Kev.  Jacob  Worthen  Hall  Ames,  son  of  Jacob  Ames, 
was  born  May  7,  1838,  and  died  at  Middletown,  Ct.,  June 
12,  1866.  He  was  married  July  12,  1864,  to  Miss  Tillie 
Mathison,  of  Middletown.  He  fitted  for  College  at  the  New 
Hampshire  Conference  Seminary,  and  graduated  at  the  head 
of  his  class  from  Wesleyan  University  in  1864.  He  received 
his  first  regular  appointment  in  1864,  and  was  stationed  at 
Berlin^  Ct.,  where  he  remained  one  year.  He  was  then 
transferred  to  the  N.  E.  Conference  and  stationed  at  Chelsea, 
Mass.,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  was  re-appointed  to  the 
same  place.  On  account  of  ill  health  he  resigned  his  pastor- 
ate in  May,  and  spent  some  six  weeks  among  his  native  hills 
in  vain  search  of  health.  He  survived  his  return  to  his  fam- 
ily at  Middletown  but  twenty-four  hours.    As  he  had  been 


73 

a  favorite  at  College,  his  sudden  death  cast  a  deep  gloom  over 
the  place.  He  was  buried  with  much  honor.  A  most 
touching  tribute, — "  Farewell,  my  Husband" — written  by  his 
wife,  on  the  morning  of  his  funeral,  was  sung  in  church  by 
Prof  Harrington,  and  a  beautiful  Hymn,  entitled  "  Gather- 
ed Home,"  written  by  Prof  H.  for  the  occasion,  was  sung 
by  the  students  and  faculty  at  the  grave.  Mr.  Ames  had 
been  invited  to  be  present  and  invoke  the  Divine  blessing 
upon  the  assembled  sons  and  daughters  of  his  native  town 
at  their  centennial  jubilee,  but  Providence  had  ordained  it 
otherwise, — he  died  on  the  evening  before.  His  body  was 
quietly  sleeping  in  its  shroud  in  his  much  loved  home,  and 
his  spirit  was  mingling  with  a  nobler  and  brighter  throng 
above. 

John  Allen  came  from  Plymouth  County,  Mass.,  and 
from  him  have  descended  the  Aliens. 

Bazaleel  Barton,  Benjamin  Barton  and  Peter  Bar- 
ton, brothers,  came  to  this  town  during  the  Ee volution,  from 
Sutton,  Mass.  From  these  have  descended  the  numerous 
family  in  town  bearing  the  name  of  Barton.  As  a  family 
they  are  distinguished  for  their  social  qualities. 

Bazaleel  Barton  was  one  of  the  company  that  dispers- 
ed the  Mass.  Legislature,  then  sitting  at  Worcester,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution.  They  were  away  to  din- 
ner. He  stood  at  the  door,  and  when  they  approached  in 
procession,  with  royal  gown  and  cap — with  loaded  gun  and 
fixed  bayonet  bid  them  defiance. 


74 

Carlton  Barton,  only  son  of  Bazaleel,  has  been  a  suc- 
cessful teacher,  and  a  man  much  in  public  business.  He  has 
a  clear  intellect,  and  "  is  a  wag  when  he  will." 

Benjamin  Barton,  (see  speech  of  Alexander  Barton.) 

John  Barton,  son  of  Benjamin,  born  Feb.  17,  1784, 
was  distinguished  for  his  plain  common  sense.  He  kept  an 
extensive  stock,  a  dairy  sometimes  of  iifty,cows,  was  a  large 
land-holder — owned  "  Croydon  Mountain" — and  left  a  fam- 
ily of  boys,  all  industrious  farmers. 

Fry  Barton,  son  of  Benjamin  Barton,  Esq.,  married  Ju- 
dith Powers,  daughter  of  Samuel  Powers,  and  removed  to 
Leon,  Cattaraugus  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where  he  has  been  a  prominent 
farmer.  He  is  the  father  of  Ara  Barton,  a  lawyer  of  fine 
intellect,  at  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 

Hon.  Cyrus  Barton,  son  of  Benjamin  Barton,  Esq.,  was 
born  Dec.  25,  1795.  He  commenced  the  "  Claremont  Spec- 
tator," at  Claremont,  in  1823,  but  in  1825  removed  to  New- 
port and  commenced  the  "  New  Hampshire  Spectator," 
where  he  remained  until  June,  1829,  when  he  removed  to 
Concord  and  took  charge  of  the  N.  H.  Patriot.  He  retired 
for  a  short  time  from  the  editorial  chair  and  was  engaged  in 
agriculture  at  Hopkinton,  but  in*  Jan.  1852,  returned  to  Con- 
cord and  established  the  "  State  Capital  Keporter,"  a  semi- 
weekly  paper,  which  he  superintended  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  He  was  Register  of  Deeds  for  Sullivan  County  in 
1827  and  1829,  and  was  appointed  Aid-de-Camp  of  Gov. 
Pierce  in  1829  ;  chosen  Secretary  of  the  College  of  Electors 
of  President  and  Vice  President  in  1833,  and  again  in  1836 
and  1840  ;  elected  Senator  from  District  No.  4  in  1833,  and 


75 

re-elected  in  1834 ;  elected  Councilor  from  Rockingham 
District  in  1843  ;  appointed  by  President  Polk,  U.  S.  Mar- 
shal for  the  District  of  N.  H.  in  1845 ;  was  a  member  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  and  President  of  the  City  Coun- 
cil of  Concord  in  1845.  He  married  Hannah  Hale,  sister  of 
the  late  Hon.  Salma  Hale,  of  Keene.  "  He  was  a  man  of 
ability,  a  ready,  pointed  and  vigorous  writer,  and  exerted  a 
wide  influence  in  the  State,"  He  died  Feb.  17,  1855,  at 
Loudon,  while  making  a  political  speech,  falling  into  the 
arms  of  his  opponent. 

George  S.  Barton,  son  of  Hon.  Cyrus  BartcHi  and  grand- 
son of  Benjamin,  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  ]851; 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1853.  He  open- 
ed an  office  at  Burlington,  Iowa,  but  the  next  year  returned 
to  Newport.  He  was  Clerk  of  the  Senate  in  1855  and  1856. 
He  died  July  24,  1857,  aged  26  years.  He  was  a  supe- 
rior draftsman,  a  fine  writer  and  a  ready  poet. 

Capt.  Alexander  Barton,  son  of  Benjamin  Barton,  Esq., 
was  born  June  14,  1804.  After  leaving  Croydon  he  spent 
a  few  years  at  Ludlow,  Vt.,  and  from  thence  removed  to 
Boston,  where,  immersed  in  business,  has  been  spent  the 
greater  portion  of  his  active  life.  He  is  courteous  and  genial 
in  his  intercourse  with  others,  and  hence  was  always  quite  a 
favorite.  In  his  earlier  days  he  was  much  in  office.  He  was 
Representative  from  his  native  town  for  the  years  1836, 1837 
and  1843,  and  was  in  1850  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  Vermont. 

Martin  A.  Barton,  son  of  Peter,  and  grandson  of  Ben- 
jamin Barton,  was  born  Aug.  22,  1813.     He  is  a  man  of 


76 

much  executive  ability.  He  was  formerly  engaged  in  trade, 
but  is  now  devoted  to  farming.  He  has  been  Representative, 
Selectman,  and  for  many  years  Deputy- Sheriff. 

Peter  Barton  settled  on  "  Winter  Hill,"  east  of  East 
Village,  and  was  the  father  of  Peter  who  went  to  Ohio,  of 
Amos  and  Moses  substantial  farmers  now  living  in  town,  and 
of  Aaron  who  removed  to  Piermont,  N.  H.,  where  he  has 
been  an  honored  citizen. 

Levi  W.  Barton,  son  of  Bazaleel  Barton,  2nd,  and 
grandson  of  Peter  Barton,  was  born  March  1,  1818.  The 
advantages  even  of  our  Common  Schools  were  in  a  great 
measure  beyond  his  reach  until  the  completion  of  his  eigh- 
teenth year.  He  then  prepared  himself  for  a  teacher,  and 
for  that  purpose  used  his  spare  hours  in  study  while  engaged 
as  a  day  laborer  in  the  field.  He  attended  for  a  few  terms 
the  Academy  in  Unity.  After  attaining  his  majority  he 
conceived  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  collegiate  education. 
He  pursued  his  preparatory  studies  at  Kimball  Union  Acad- 
emy, and  graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1848.  Dur- 
ing his  senior  year  in  College,  he  read  law  with  Hon.  Daniel 
Blaisdell,  of  Hanover.  Immediately  after  graduating  he 
entered  the  law  ofl&ce  of  Jonathan  Kittridge,  Esq.,  of 
Canaan,  afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  the  court  of  Common 
Pleas,  where  he  remained  till  January  of  1851,  when  he 
came  to  Newport  and  finished  his  preparatory  studies  with 
Messrs.  Metcalf  and  Corbin,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
July  of  the  same  year. 

While  in  Canaan  he  taught  the  Academy  in  that  place 
five  terms,  in  addition  to  his  full  course  of  reading. 


77 

Soon  after  being  admitted  to  the  bar  he  opened  an  office 
in  Newport,  where  he  has  since  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  He  was  Register  of  Deeds  in 
1855,  1856  and  1857,  and  Solicitor  of  Sullivan  County- 
five  years,  commencing  in  1859  ;  was  Representative  from 
Newport  in  1863  and  1864,  and  a  member  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee — the  latter  year  its  chairman.  In  1863  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  Attorney-general,  and  in  1866  was 
chairman  of  a  board  of  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor to  audit  and  report  to  the  Legislature  the  war  indebt- 
edness of  the  several  towns  in  the  State.  He  was  married  to 
Mary  Ann  Pike,  of  Newport,  in  1839,  who  died  the  year  fol- 
lowing, leaving  an  infant  son  five  days  old,  now  Lt.  Col.  I. 
McL.  Barton,  late  of  the  N.  H.  Heavy  Artillery,  and  now  a 
Lieutenant  in  the  regular  army.  He  was  again  married  to 
Lizzie  F.  Jewett,  of  Nashua,  in  1852. 

Williams  Barton,  M.  D.,  son  of  Bazaleel  Barton  2n(f, 
and  grandson  of  Peter  Barton,  was  born  Aug,  6,  1820.  He 
received  his  literary  training  at  Unity  and  Kimball  Union 
Academies ;  studied  medicine  with  Drs.  Cobum,  Hall  and 
Nichols;  graduated  at  the  medical  department  of  Dartmouth 
College  in  May,  1845,  and  soon  after  commenced  practice  at 
Croydon,  where  he  still  resides.  He  w^s  often  chairman  of 
the  Superintending  School  Committee,  and  was  three  years 
Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  for  Sullivan  County, 
during  which  time  he  was  often  employed  as  professor  of 
elocution,  in  teachers'  institutes,  in  difierent  parts  of  the 
State. 


78 

Ira  W.  Bragg,  son  of  Ira  Bragg,  who  came  from  Koyals- 
ton,  Mass.,  was  born  July  28,  1833.  Fitted  for  college  at 
Meriden  and  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Perkins,  of  Marlow, 
N.  H.  He  attended  lectures  at  Dartmouth  and  Harvard 
Colleges,  and  graduated  at  the  latter  institution  in  1859. 
After  spending  a  year  in  the  Marine  Hospital  at  Chelsea,  he 
went  to  Europe  and  passed  several  months  in  the  hospitals 
of  Liverpool  and  London,  endeavoring  to  still  further  qualify 
himself  for  his  profession.  Upon  his  return,  after  practicing 
a  year  at  Chelsea,  Mass.,  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Sur- 
geon in  the  Navy ;  was  on  board  the  Minnesota  at  the 
time  of  its  fearful  engagement  with  the  Merrimac,  when  the 
Cumberland  went  down,  and  the  famous  Monitor  made  its 
first  appearance.  He  was  transferred  to  the  San  Jacinto,  the 
flag  ship  of  the  East  Gulf  Blockading  Squadron,  and  was  on 
board  her  during  her  pursuit  of  the  Alabama  among  the  West 
Undies  and  at  South  America.  He  was  ordered  to  the  West 
Gulf  Blockading  Squadron,  and  from  thence  to  the  Naval 
Hospital  at  New  Orleans,  where,  on  the  twenty-first  of  Octo- 
ber, 1864,  worn  down  by  excessive  labor  and  anxiety  for  the 
sick,  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  yellow  fever.  In  few  men  were 
more  happily  combined  rare  merit  and  graceful  modesty. 

Sarah  C.  BRAGG,^ister  of  the  above,  a  lady  of  much  liter- 
ary merit  and  one  of  our  most  accomplished  teachers,  was 
born  July  3,  1830.  She  graduated  at  Meriden  with  high 
honors,  in  the  class  of  1852.  By  her  own  industry  and  per- 
severance she  defrayed  the  expenses  of  her  education.  After 
graduating  she  went  to  Georgetown,  Mass.,  and  taught  a 
year  and  a  half,  she  then  became  principal  of  the  Young 
Ladies  High  School  at  Haverhill,  Mass.,  which  position  she 


79 

occupied  most  acceptably  to  all  for  four  years,  until  her 
marriage  with  Seth  Littlefield,  Jr. 


Briant  Brown  was  a  social  man.  He  came  from  Wil- 
liston,  Vt.,  and  married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Capt.  Edward 
Hall.  He  resided  at  the  Flat,  was  Kepresentative  in  1827 
and  1828,  and  was  more  or  less  engaged  in  public  business. 
He  died  Feb.  18,  1854,  aged  61  years. 

Edward  Brown,  son  of  Briant  Brown,  a  worthy  farmer 
and  a  man  of  good  judgment,  was  born  January,  1818. 
He  has  for  a  long  time  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  agricul- 
tural affairs  of  the  State  and  County.  In  1866  he  was  one 
of  the  Committee  on  the  State  Agricultural  College,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  report  to  the  Legislature  a  suitable  plan, 
location  and  other  matters  relating  to  the  State  College. 


Samuel  Blanchard,  son  of  Darius  Blanchard,  was  born 
Sept.  17,  1790.  He  is  a  man  endowed  by  nature  with  un- 
common abilities,  has  much  shrewdness  and  wit,  and  has 
been  the  most  successful  teacher  the  town  ever  produced. 
Would  our  limits  permit  we  could  relate  many  an  amusing 
instance  of  how  the  ready  genius  of  "  Black  Sam"  has  out- 
generaled and  conquered  a  large,  turbulent,  and  to  others 
ungovernable  school,  without  a  blow.  He  has  devoted  most 
of  his  life  to  farming. 

Darius  Blanchard  and  John  Blanchard  were  among 
the  early  settlers  of  the  town.     The  former  settled  in  the 


80 

valley  north  of  C.  K.  Fletcher's,  and  the  latter  on  Baltimore 
Hill. 

Lester  Blanchard,  son  of  John  Blanchard,  was  born 
June  17,  1808.  He  has  ever  remained  on  the  homestead. 
He  was  Kepresentative  in  1848  and  1849. 


James  Breck,  a  native  of  Boston,  was  for  twelve  years, 
from  1804  to  1816,  the  leading  merchant  and  one  of  the 
most  influential  men  in  Croydon.  While  here,  he  was  Se- 
lectman five  years  and  Representative  four.  In  1811,  he 
married  Martha  Burr,  daughter  of  Capt.  Martin  Burr,  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  the  town.  They  had  a  large  family. 
Martin  B.,  the  oldest  son,  followed  his  father's  calling. 
William  and  James,  the  second  and  third  sons,  graduated 
at  Dartmouth  College  and  turned  their  attention  to  law. 
The  former,  appointed  Consul  to  China,  has  been,  with  his 
lady,  for  several  years  enjoying  a  residence  in  the  "  Celestial 
Empire."  The  latter  settled  at  Chicago.  From  this  town 
Mr.  Breck  removed  to  Newport,  where  for  a  long  time  he 
was  a  leading  man  in  all  public  enterprises,  in  trade,  in  poli- 
tics and  the  religious  society  to  which  he  belonged.  He  is 
now  living  at  Eochester,  N.  Y,,  and,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-seven  years,  still  retains  a  vivid  recollection  of  his 
many  happy  hours  at  Croydon,  the  birthplace  of  his  com- 
panion and  the  spot  where  were  first  developed  those  quali- 
ties which  gave  him  so  marked  an  influence  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  extensive  fortune.  In  1861  they  had  a 
brilliant  golden  wedding. 


yj  -9^^  <r» 


^.  ^^^^.^..^ 


81 

Martin  B.  Breck,  eldest  son  of  James  Breck,  Esq.,  was 
bom  Oct.  15,  1812.  He  was  educated  at  the  district  school 
and  Newport  Academy,  after  which  he  turned  his  attention 
to  mercantile  pursuits.  He  remained  with  his  father  at 
Newport  until  he  attained  to  his  majority.  He  followed  his 
vocation  at  Croydon,  at  Newport,  and  at  Boston  until  1841, 
when  he  removed  to  Kochester,  N.  Y.,  where  his  operations 
have  been  "  eminently  successful,"  and  where  he  now  lives 
enjoying  all  the  blessings  which  affluence  can  afford.  In 
1838  he  married  Mary  Faxon,  of  Newport,  who  lived  but  a 
year  and  a  half.  .In  1846  he  married  Miss  Susan  E'.  Waters, 
of  Rochester. 

Margaret  A.  Breck,  daughter  of  James  Breck,  Esq., 
was  bom  April  24,  1814.  She  was  married  to  H.  H.  Per- 
kins, Esq.,  at  Newport,  in  1837,  and  removed  to  St.  Croix 
Falls,  Wisconsin,  where  he  died  in  1850,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren. The  eldest  daughter  married  W.  D.  Webb,  an  attor- 
ney at  law  at  Minneapolis,  Minnesota.  The  son,  James 
Breck  Perkins,  a  member  of  the  senior  class  in  Eochester 
University,  is  now  traveling  in  Europe.  Mrs.  P.  is  finely 
educated,  has  a  well  balanced  mind,  ajid  a  decided  taste  for 
literature. 

Henry  Breck,  now  eighty-one  years  of  age,  was  a  native 
of  Boston.  He  came  to  Croydon  in  1807,  and  was  clerk  in 
the  store  at  the  Flat,  owned  by  his  brothers,  William  and 
James.  In  1815,  he  purchased  their  interest  and  continued 
in  trade  there  until  1818,  when  he  removed  to  Four  Corners, 
where  he  continued  in  business  until  1837,  when  he  removed 
to  Cornish  Flat.  On  the  death  of  his  brother  William,  in 
1848,  he  removed  to  Claremont,  and  settled  on  the  "  home- 


82 

stead"  where  he  now  lives.  Mr.  Breck  took  an  active  part 
in  the  erection  of  the  Church  at  the  Four  Comers,  assuming 
to  himself  one-fourth  part  the  entire  expense  of  the  edifice. 
He  was  an  active  business  man,  and  held  many  offices.  In 
1818,  married  Keziah  Marsh,  who  died  in  1826.  In  1828, 
married  Sarah  Town,  of  Grantham. 

John  T.  Breck,  eldest  son  of  Henry  Breck,  established 
himself  as  a  merchant  at  Cornish  Flat,  in  1841.  His  integrity 
and  fine  business  qualities  have  secured  to  him  a  handsome 
fortune,  and  an  honorable  reputation  among  his  neighbors. 
His  is  a  rare  case  of  success  in  trade  and  universal  esteem 
among  his  neighbors  and  townsmen.  After  having  been  in 
trade  26  years,  he  cannot  be  said  to  have  an  enemy.  He  is 
a  gentleman  of  fine  literary  taste  and  varied  attainments. 
He  fitted  for  college,  but  on  account  of  a  trouble  with  his 
eyes,  abandoned  the  idea  of  a  college  course,  and  turned  his 
attention  to  mercantile  pursuits.  He  retired  from  business 
in  1866,  and  is  now  living  upon  a  farm  in  Lebanon. 

Egbert  Breck,  the  second  son  of  Henry,  is  an  active  and 
successful  merchant  at  Ascutneyville,  Vt.,  where  he  has  been 
in  trade  for  more  than  20  years,  and,  like  his  brother  John 
T.,  has  succeeded,  by  his  skill  and  good  judgment,  in  hand- 
some accumulations,  and  by  his  integrity  and  genial  man- 
ners in  securing  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  all  who  know 
him. 

Henry  Breck,  Jr.,  third  son  of  Henry  Breck,  has  been 
a  practical  farmer  and  gardener  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston 
for  several  years,  and  is  well  known  for  his  skill  in  his 
business,  and  his  integrity  and  intelligence.     He  now  lives 


/h^ 


l^- 


83 

at  Watertown,  Mass.,  where  he   has   a  very  fine  farming 
establishment. 

William  Breck,  son  of  Henry  Breck,  was  bom  Dec.  17, 
1826.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  removed  with  his  father 
to  Cornish.  At  eighteen,  he  went  to  Claremont,  and  was 
Assistant  Postmaster  for  two  years ;  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time,  on  account  of  ill  health,  he  returned  to  his 
father's  roof  at.  Cornish.  At  twenty-two,  he  went  into 
trade  with  his  brother  John  at  Cornish,  and  continued  there 
four  years ;  at  which  time,  laboring  under  a  severe  attack  of 
asthma,  he  went  to  California,  where  he  was  in  active 
business  eight  years,  when,  having  regained  his  health,  and 
won  for  himself  an  independent  fortune,  he  returned  to  New 
Hampshire,  with  the  intention  of  passing  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  retirement  from  active  business,  among  his  many 
relatives  and  friends.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  unquestioned 
integrity,  of  most  genial  disposition  and  fine  social  qualities. 
As  a  family,  the  Brecks  have  been  noted  for  their  honesty, 
integrity  and  gentlemanly  bearing. 


BI?.ISTOIj. 

Augusta  Cooper  Bristol,  daughter  of  Col.  Otis  and 
Hannah  Powers  Cooper,  was  born  April  17,  1835.  She  was 
early  distinguished  for  a  vigorous  intellect,  great  fondness 
for  music,  and  a  passion  for  poetry  and  literature.  She 
taught  school  with  decided  success  from  sixteen  to  twenty- 
one.  She  gave  much  attention  to  music  ;  and  her  frequent 
contributions,  both  of  poetry  and  prose,  to  some  of  the  lead- 
ing journals  and  magazines  of  the  day,  commencing  at  the 


84 

age  of  fifteen,  find  many  admirers.  She  was  married  to  Mr. 
Gustavus  F.  Kimball,  of  East  Canaan,  N.  H.,  in  August, 
1857,  by  whom  she  had  one  daughter,  and  from  whom  she 
was  divorced  after  four  years  of  wedded  life.  In  January, 
1866,  she  married  Louis  Bristol,  a  lawyer,  and  removed  to 
Carbondale,  111.,  where  she  now  resides,  and  where  her  time  is 
divided  between  her  domestic  duties  and  a  free  indulgence 
in  her  favorite  passion  for  literature  and  poetry. 


Dea.  John  Cooper  came  to  this  town  in  1770,  and  died 
in  1805.  (See  speech  of  John  Cooper,  Esq.)  From  him 
and  his  two  nephews,  Ezra  Cooper  and  Samuel  Cooper, 
have  descended  all  those  in  this  vicinity  who  bear  the  name 
of  Cooper.  John  settled  on  the  farm  of  Col.  Otis  Cooper, 
Ezra  on  the  Pinnacle  west  of  the  old  church,  and  Samuel 
east  of  Spectacle  Pond.  As  a  family  the  Coopers  were  relig- 
iously inclined,  and  distinguished  for  honesty. 

Dea.  Sherman  Cooper,  son  of  Dea.  John  and  Mary 
Sherman  Cooper,  came  to  this  town  when  he  was  ten  years 
of  age,  and  six  years  after  shouldered  his  musket  and  joined 
the  Revolutionary  army.  He  married  Mary  Powers,  by 
whom  he  had  ten  children,  six  sons  and  four  daughters.  On 
the  death  of  his  father  he  was  chosen  deacon  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death.  He 
was  a  farmer  in  moderate  circumstances,  honest  in  his  deal, 
benevolent  in  his  disposition,  temperate  in  his  habits,  and 
devoted  to  his  religious  faith.  He  was  gifted,  outspoken, 
and  full  of  anecdote  and  good  humor.  He  died  in  1850, 
aged  88  years. 


85 

William  Freeman  Cooper  is  the  fourth  son  of  the  late 
Dea.  Sherman  Cooper,  of  Croydon.  On  his  father's  side  he 
is  descended  from  the  Coopers  and  Shermans ;  and  on  his 
mother's,  from  the  Powerses  and  Lelands.  His  parents 
having  a  large  family  and  hut  little  property,  his  early  life 
was  one  of  toil.  While  living  with  them  his  means  of 
education  were  small.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
left  the  paternal  roof  and  was  thrown  upon*  his  own 
resources.  After  spending  four  years  at  the  Newport  Acad- 
emy and  in  teaching  school  to  improve  the  state  of  his 
finances,  he,  in  1824,  commenced  his  professional  studies 
with  Dr.  Elijah  Cooper,  of  Newport.  After  completing 
the  usual  course  of  preparatory  studies,  and  attending  the 
lectures  at  the  medical  school  at  Bowdoin  College,  he  grad- 
uated with  honor  from  that  institution,  in  1826,  receiving 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He  returned  immedi- 
ately to  Newport,  where  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  and  remained  there  about  a  year.  In  1827  he 
removed  to  Kelloggsville,  in  the  town  of  Niles  and  County 
of  Cayuga,  N.  Y,  By  the  successful  performance  of  a  very 
difficult  surgical  operation  he  opened  his  way  at  once  to 
professional  fame.  He  has  ever  since  been  engaged  in  an 
extensive  practice,  in  which  he  has  amassed  an  ample  fortune, 
notwithstanding  his  almost  princely  liberality.  In  1850  he 
received  an  honorary  degree  from  Laporte  Medical  College, 
Indiana. 

Col.  Otis  Cooper,  son  of  Dea.  Sherman  Cooper,  was 
born  in  1806.  He  worked  on  the  farm  during  his  minority, 
and  from  seventeen  to  twenty-one  taught  school  during  the 
winter  season  with  much  success.     He  took  a  deep  interest 


86 

in  military  aflfairs,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  Colonel.  He  was 
unanimously  chosen  deacon  of  the  Universalist  Church  of 
Croydon  at  its  organization  in  1853.  He  held  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  twenty  years,  and  was  one  of  the 
board  of  Selectmen.  He  resides  on  the  old  farm  selected  by 
his  grandfather  in  1772.  He  married  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Ezeldel  Powers, 
# 

Hon.  Lemuel  P.  Cooper,  son  of  Dea.  Sherman  Cooper, 
was  born  July  18,  1803.  He  has  been  one  of  the  most 
scientific  and  thorough  farmers  in  town.  He  was  educated 
at  Newport  and  Claremont  Academies,  taught  school  for 
more  than  twenty  winters,  and  was  long  intrusted  with  the 
general  management  of  the  schools  through  town.  In  1831, 
he  was  married  to  Laura  Whipple,  and  had  one  son,  Dr. 
Sherman  Cooper,  and  two  daughters,  Mary  and  Ellen. 
The  sisters  were  educated  at  Kimball  Union  Academy,  and 
studied  French  at  St.  Marys,  Canada  East.  They  became 
so  proficient  as  to  be  able  to  read  and  write  the  French  with 
almost  the  same  readiness  as  their  native  tongue.  Like 
their  father,  they  were  successful  teachers.  Mary  married 
Col.  Alexander  Gardiner,  of  the  14th  Regt.  N.  H.  Vols.,  an 
eloquent  and  promising  lawyer.  Since  the  death  of  her 
husband,  who  died  in-  the  army,  she  has  turned  her  attention 
to  the  study  of  the  classics.  Ellen  was  invited  to  become 
the  instructor  of  French  at  Brattleboro,  Vt.  Mr.  Cooper 
was  Selectman  seven  years.  Representative  in  1844  and  1845, 
and  State  Senator  in  1862  and  1863. 

Sherman  Cooper,  son  of  Hon.  Lemuel  P.  Cooper,  was 
born  Aug.  20,  1833.     He  received  his  academical  education 


87 

at  Meriden.,  N.  H.,  studied  medicine  in  New  York  City, 
and  graduated  at  the  New  York  Medical  College  in  1856. 
The  following  year  he  was  deputy  resident  physician  of 
Blackwell's  Island  Hospital.  He  settled  at  Claremont  in 
1858.  He  entered  the  army  in  1861,  as  Assistant  Surgeon 
of  the  6th  Kegt.  N.  H.  Vols.,  but  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Surgeon  in  March,  1863.  At  the  end  of  three  years,  in 
1864,  he  returned  to  Claremont  and  resumed  the  practice  of 
of  his  profession. 

John  Cooper,  son  of  Dea.  John  Cooper,  came  to  Croydon 
in  1770,  and  died  March  20,  1832.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Kevolutionary  army,  and  was  active  in  the  affairs  of  the 
town — for  nine  years  one  of  the  selectmen. 

John  Cooper,  son  of  John  Cooper  and  Lydia  Dodge 
Cooper,  and  grandson  of  Dea.  John  Cooper,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Croydon,  was  born  in  Croydon,  June  15,  1806, 
and  was  educated  in  the  common  school  and  at  the  domestic 
fireside.  He  is  a  farmer,  but  has  devoted  a  portion  of  his 
time  to  teaching  and  other  literary  pursuits.  He  has  been 
elected  or  appointed  Superintending  School  Committee  of 
Croydon  sixteen  times. 

In  1839  he  prepared  "  An  Historical  Sketch  of  Croydon," 
which  was  published  in  the  6th  Vol.  of  the  Collections  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society;  and  in  1852  he 
revised  the  same  and  published  it  in  pamphlet  form.  His 
other  publications  are  his  annual  School  Reports  and  contri- 
butions for  the  periodical  press. 

Alanson  L.  Cooper,  son  of  Barnabas,  and  grandson  of 
Dea.  John  Cooper,  was  born  Oct.  16,  1804.     He  possessed 


intellectual  powers  of  the  highest  order.  He  studied  medi- 
cine and  graduated  at  Brunswick,  Me.,  in  1827,  after  which 
he  went  to  Europe,  and  during  his  absence  spent  several 
months  attending  hospital  practice  at  Paris.  He  commenced 
practice  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  in  ]841.  As  a 
poet,  the  few  gems  that  have  been  preserved  from  his  pen 
indicate  a  rare  genius. 

Orville  M.  Cooper,  son  of  Joel,  and  grandson  of  Dea. 
Sherman  Cooper,  was  born  July  28,  1821.  He  studied 
medicine  and  graduated  at  Hanover  in  1845.  He  com- 
menced practice  at  Hollis,  N.  H.,  where  he  died  in  1847. 

Al ANSON  Cooper,  son  of  Silas  and  great-grandson  of 
Dea.  John  Cooper,  a  Methodist  clergyman  of  much  talent 
and  influence,  is  a  Presiding  Elder  in  the  Montpelier  Dis- 
trict, Vt.,  and  is  one  of  the  Commissioners  to  locate  the 
Methodist  school. 

Elijah  Cooper,  an  intelligent  physician,  was  son  of  Hora- 
tio Cooper,  and  grandson  of  Nathaniel  Cooper,  the  oldest 
son  of  Dea.  John  Cooper.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
College.  After  completing  his  studies,  he  practiced  for  a 
while  with  decided  success  at  Newport,  N.  H.,  but  subse- 
quently removed  to  Columbu^,  Ohio,  where  he  had  an 
extensive  practice  for  two  years,  when  he  removed  to  New- 
ark, in  the  same  State,  where  he  also  had  a  practice  extend- 
ing over  a  large  section  of  country,  but  which  so  wrought 
upon  his  health  that  he  abandoned  it  altogether  in  1833, 
entered  into  a  large  mercantile  business,  and  amassed  a  con- 
siderable fortune.    He  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  Nicho- 


89 

las  Farwell,  of  Claremont,  by  whom  he  had  seven  children. 
She  died  in  1847,  and  he  married  her  sister,  the  second 
daughter  of  Nicholas  Farwell.  In  September,  1854,  Dr. 
Cooper,  his  wife,  a  daughter  four  years  old,  and  a  servant  in 
his  family,  died  of  cholera.  The  second  daughter  of  Dr. 
Cooper  married  Maj.  John  L.  Farwell,  Cashier  of  Claremont 
National  Bank. 

Keuben  Cooper,  son  of  Keuben,  and  grandson  of  Ezra 
Cooper,  one  of  the  first  twelve  settlers  of  the  town,  was  one 
of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  is  a  thriving  and 
industrious  farmer.  Married  Cynthia,  daughter  of  Joel,  and 
granddaughter  of  Dea.  Sherman  Cooper. 

Nathaniel  Cooper,  son  of  Ezra  Cooper,  married  Phebe 
Barton,  eldest  daughter  of  Benjamin  Barton,  Esq.,  and 
removed  to  Leon,  Cattaraugus  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  occu- 
pied a  prominent  position,  for  a  long  time,  doing  the  larger 
share  of  public  business.  His  son  John  has  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  his  father, — has  been  Kepresentative, 
Supervisor,  and  held  other  offices. 

Dr.  Keuben  Carroll,  a  native  of  Sutton,  Mass.,  came 
to  Croydon  in  1792,  and  settled  near  the  Four  Corners.  He 
was  the  first  physician  in  town,  and  for  more  than  forty 
years  was  a  successful  practitioner.  In  1840,  he  was  thrown 
from  his  carriage  and  killed.     (See  Oration  of  Dr.  Stow.) 

Albert  Carroll,  son  of  Charles,  and  grandson  of  Fol- 
lansbee  Carroll,  one  of  the  early  settlers,  is  a  physician  now 
in  practice  at  South  Boston,  Mass. 


90 

OTJTTIZSrO-. 

Jonas  Cutting,  Benjamin  Cutting  and  Jonathan 
Cutting,  sons  of  Francis  Cutting,  came  early  to  this  town 
from  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  Sugar 
River,  near  the  Newport  line.  From  them  have  descended 
the  Cuttings. 

Francis  Cutting,  son  of  Benjamin  Cutting,  has  been  an 
extensive  dealer  in  cattle,  sheep  and  horses.  He  was  born 
May  14,  1793.  He  is  one  of  the  largest  tax-payers  in  town 
and  has  raised  up  a  large  family  of  prosperous  boys,  all  of 
whom  have  settled  near  him. 

Freeman  Cutting,  son  of  Francis  Cutting,  was  born 
July  19,  1821.  He  was  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  on  the 
day  of  Celebration,  has  raised  up  a  large  family,  and  been 
one  of  the  most  energetic  and  prosperous  farmers  in  Sulli- 
van County. 

Francis  M.  Cutting  and  Shepherd  H.  Cutting,  broth- 
ers of  the  above,  both  married  daughters  of  Dimmick  Baker, 
Esq.,  of  Plainfield,  and  are  among  the  most  thriving  farmers 
of  Newport. 

Jonathan  Cutting,  son  of  Jonathan  Cutting,  early  in 
life  removed  to  Newport  where  he  was  extensively  engaged 
in  town  business,  and  was  an  active  and  worthy  deacon  in 
the  Baptist  church.  He  was  a  man  of  "  infinite  jest."  I  will 
relate  only  one  of  the  many  anecdotes  told  of  him.  Once 
laboring  for  a  man  whose  love  of  gain  required  his  hands  to 
be  up,  eat  breakfast,  and  be  miles  away  to  the  woods  with 
an  ox  team  before  light,  he  wished  to  give  him  a  gentle  re- 


iJ^iTt^  Gl^'  ^U^tto^^n , 


91 

minder  that  he  was  asking  too  much — which  was  done  in  this 
wise:  When  asked  to  pray  one  morning,  he  commenced  thus : 
"We  thank  thee,  0  Lord,  that  thou  hast  brought  us  in 
safety  thus  far  through  the  night,  and  if  in  thy  providence 
we  are  permitted  to  see  the  light  of  another  day,  may  we  go 
forth  to  its  duties  with  a  cheerful  heart  and  in  thy  fear,"  &c. 
The  next  morning  he  was  permitted  to  eat  his  breakfast 
by  daylight. 

Jonas  Cutting,  LL.  D.,  son  of  Jonas  Cutting  and  Betsey 
Eames  Cutting,  and  grandson  of  Jonas,  senior,  was  born  in 
Croydon,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1800.  He  prepared  for 
college,  principally  under  the  tuition  of  Otis  Hutchins,  then 
Principal  of  Kimball  Union  Academy  in  Plainfield,  and 
entered  the  Freshman  Class  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1819. 
He  graduated  in  1823,  and  subsequently  read  law,  first  with 
the  late  Hon.  Henry  Hubbard,  of  Charlestown,  and  the  third 
year  with  Hon.  Reuel  Williams,  at  Augusta,  Maine,  where 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1826.  Thence  he  removed  to 
the  town  of  Orono,  in  Penobscot  county,  where  he  remained 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  until  October,  1831,  when 
he  removed  to  Bangor,  the  shire  town  of  the  same  county. 

In  1833  he  was  married  to  Lucretia  H.,  daughter  of  John 
Bennoch,  Esq.,  of  Orono.  They  had  three  daughters  and 
one  son, — the  eldest,  Rebecca  D.,  died  in  infancy;  the 
second,  Elizabeth  J.,  at  the  age  of  15,  and  his  son,  Frederick 
H.,  in  his  21st  year.  His  only  surviving  child  is  Helen  A., 
who  is  married  to  Dr.  Augustus  C.  Hamlin,  only  son  of  Hon. 
Elijah  L.  Hamlin,  brother  of  the  late  Vice-President. 

His  wife,  Lucretia,  died  in  1842.  In  1843  he  was  again 
married  to   Ann  R.,  youngest  daughter  of  the  late   Hon. 


92 

Samuel  Fales,  of  Taunton,  Mass.,  with  whom  he  now  lives 
and  resides  in  the  city  of  Bangor. 

In  1854  Mr.  Cutting  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  of  his  adopted  State,  and  at  the  end  of  seven 
years,  the  duration  of  the  judicial  tenor,  was  re-appointed, 
which  office  he  now  holds.  In  1858  his  Alma  Mater  confer- 
red upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  The 
following  is  his  letter  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangements : 

Bangor,  May  7,  1866. 
Otis  Cooper,  Esq. — 

My  Dear  Sir: 

Your  letter,  extending  an  invitation  to 
me  to  be  present  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  one 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  my  deai'  old 
Croydon,  has  been  received. 

I  cordially  thank  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  their 
kind  remembrance  of  one  who  will  be  present  on  that  occa- 
sion, unless  his  official  duties  should  call  him  elsewhere.  A 
few  of  the  committee  I  know  personally,  and  the  fathers  of 
them  all.  The  person  selected  to  address  you  on  that  occa- 
sion I  well  know.  He  was  a  Samuel  in  his  youth,  and  is  a 
St.  Paul  in  his  maturity,  "  without  these  bonds."  And  how 
could  it  be  otherwise  ?  He  was  born  at  the  base  of  Croydon 
mountain,  he  on  one  side  and.  the  present  Chief  Justice  of 
the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  on  the  other.  There  is  no  such 
mountain  in  New  Hampshire.  To  say  nothing  of  other 
natives  whose  eyes  first  opened  to  behold  its  grandeur  and 
beauty,  those  two  individuals  do  less  to  immortalize  the 
mountain,  than  the  mountain  to  immortalize  them.  Dear 
old  mountain  ! — had  you  been  originally  selected  for  the 
"  garden  of  Eden,"  man  would  never  have  fallen. 

Yours  truly, 

JONAS  CUTTING. 


93 

Adolphus  Cutting,  a  younger  brother  of  Hon.  Jonas 
Cutting,  of  Maine,  studied  medicine,  and  after  graduating 
went  West,  where  a  decided  success  has  attended  both  his 
professional  and  pecuniary  efforts. 


Solomon  Clement  married  Lucy,  daughter  of  Dr.  Keuben 
Carroll,  and  was  for  a  while  a  successful  merchant  at  the  Four 
Corners,  and  a  prominent  citizen.  He  removed  to  Spring- 
field, N.  H.,  where  he  occupied  a  leading  position, — was 
chosen  Kepresentative.  He  subsequently  engaged  in  pianu- 
facturing  business  at  Springfield,  Vt.  He  died  at  Plainfield, 
N.  H.,  in.l866. 


Capt.  Nathan  Clark,  a  joiner  by  trade,  came  to  this 
town  from  Franklin,  Mass.,  with  a  pack  on  his  back,  in  1787, 
and  purchased  him  a  farm  on  Baltimore  Hill,  and  in  1788 
married  Sabrina,  eldest  daughter  of  Samuel  Metcalf  of  Fram- 
ingham.  He  made  the  first  panel-door  and  window-sash  in 
town.  He  gave  much  time  and  labor  towards  erecting  the 
church  in  1794,  and  was  ever  an  active  and  liberal  support- 
er of  the  gospel.  He  died  in  1855,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety  years.  Nathan,  his  second  son,  married  Zelinda, 
daughter  of  Louis  Vickery,  an  Italian,  having  much  of  the 
musical  skill  of  his  countrymen ;  and  in  1824  erected  the 
Woolen  Factory  at  the  East  Village.  Amanda,  only  daugh- 
ter of  Nathan,  Jr.^  married  Oscar  F.  Morril,  a  native  of  Deer- 


94 

ingj  N.  H.,  a  man  possessed  of  much  inventive  genius.  He 
has  taken  out  twenty  patents,  embracing  nearly  one  hundred 
distinct  claims. 


Capt.  Prince  Crosby,  the  father  of  the  Crosbys,  came  to 
this  town  early,  from  Sturbridge,  Mass.,  and  settled  near 
Newport  line,  south  of  the  Flat. 

Hon.  Orra  Crosby,  son  of  Prince  Crosby,  was  bom  Nov. 
14,  1793.  He  was  the  eldest  of  seven  sons.  Atsixteen  he 
was  apprenticed  to  Nathan  Hurd,  of  Newport,  to  learn  the 
cloth-dressing  trade.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  ser- 
vice, having  attained  his  majority,  he  started  on  foot,  with 
his  pack  on  his  back,  for  Hardwick,  Vt.  After  laboring 
there  at  his  trade  for  three  years,  he  bought  out  the  establish- 
ment and  commenced  business  for  himself  At  which  time, 
April  28,  1818,  he  married  Miss  Julia  Stevens.  By  indus- 
try, frugality  and  integrity  he  prospered  in  business  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  large  fortune.  He  has  been  Representa- 
tive, Justice,  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  and  a  Director  of 
the  Danville  Bank,  and  is  now  President  of  the  National 
Bank  of  Caledonia.  As  a  financier.  Judge  Crosby  has  few 
equals. 

His  eldest  son,  a  much  respected  citizen,  was  engaged  to 
some  extent  in  public  business,  was  a  sheriff  of  the  county, 
and  died  in  1866,  deeply  lamented.  His  third  daughter 
married  S.  L.  Wiswell,  a  physician  of  note  at  Cabot,  Vt. 
His  fourth  daughter  married  A.  J.  Hyde,  also  a  physician, 
who  is  doing  a  successful  business  in  her  native  village. 


95 


Freeman  Crosby,  son  of  Capt.  Prince  Crosby^  Is  a  sub- 
stantial farmer,  residing  at  the  Flat,  was  Representative  in 
1855  and  1858,  and  Selectman  in  1842,  He  married  Betsey, 
daughter  of  James  Whipple,  of  Newport. 


Dr.  William  W.  Darling,  son  of  William  Darling,  was 
born  Nov.  20,  1834.  He  obtained  his  education  at  Kimball 
Union  and  Thetford  Academies;  studied  medicine  with  Dr. 
Thos.  Sanborn,  of  Newport,  and  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
College,  Nov.  9,  1859.  Located  at  Sutton,  N.  H.,  April  9, 
1861,  and  removed  to  Goshen,  N.  H.,  Sept.  26,  1863.  On 
the  21st  of  March,  1860,  he  was  connected  by  marriage  with 
Salona  A.  Pike,  of  Newport,  N.  H. 

Lucius  Wesley  Darling  and  Eli  Darling,  sons  of 
Elijah  Darling,  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  descendants 
of  James  and  Huldah  Cooper  Hall, — the  former  residing  at 
Newport  and  the  latter  at  Hanover,  now  in  the  prime  of 
life, — are  among  our  most  enterprising  and  prosperous 
farmers. 


William  Dodge,  son  of  Perley  and  Helena  Cooper 
Dodge,  apd  grandson  on  the  mother's  side  of  Dea.  Sherman 
Cooper,  was  born  in  1814.  He  was  for  a  long  time  a  Dep- 
uty Sheriif  and  Postmaster  at  the  East  Village.  He  re- 
moved to  Claremont  in  1854,  where  he  now  resides. 


96 

Amasa  H.  Dunbar,  son  of  Sylvester  and  Hannah  Powers 
Dunbar,  born  in  1807,  early  in  life  removed  to  Moravia, 
N.  Y.,  where  we  have  the  amplest  testimony  of  his  neigh- 
bors showing  he  has  been  a  most  successful  and  popular 
teacher,  and  is  a  respected  and  influential  citizen.  He  has 
always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  educational  matters,  and  has 
long  been  the  director  in  the  Moravian  Institute.  He  is 
gifted  with  fine  intellectual  powers,  is  a  good  scholar,  social 
and  humorous.  He  became  connected  by  marriage  with  one 
of  the  best  families  of  his  adopted  village,  and  has  two  sons. 
His  eldest  son,  G-eorge  Ward  Dunbar,  graduated  at  Ho- 
bart  College,  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  and  at  the  General  Theological 
Seminary,  N.  Y.  City,  and  is  a  successful  clergyman  of  the 
Episcopal  Church.  The  younger  son  is  a  trader  in  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.  Mr.  D.  is  now  engaged  in  improving  text-books  for 
the  schools. 

Otis  Dunbar,  fifth  son  of  Sylvester,  born  in  1812,  is  a 
talented  clergyman  at  Holderness,  N.  H.  Married  Julia  M. 
True. 


RuFus  DuRKEE,  from  whom  have  descended  the  Durkees, 
was  son  of  Robert  Durkee,*-  and  came  from  Brimfield,  Ct. 
He  married  Polly,  daughter  of  Thomas,  and  granddaughter 
of  Moses  Whipple,  the  early  settler.  He  was  a  tanner  by 
trade,  and  an  original  genius. 

RuEL  DuRKEE,  SOU  of  Rufus  and  Polly  Whipple 
Durkee,  and  a  descendant  of  Moses  Whipple,  Esq.,  was 


A'T^C?- 


97 

born  in  Croydon,  July  14,  1807.  He  has  ever  resided  in  his 
native  town.  His  early  years  were  spent  in  obtaining  an 
education  in  the  common  school,  and  in  assisting  to  carry  on 
a  tannery.  Later  in  life  he  has  carried  on  extensive  farming 
operations,  besides  attending  to  much  other  business. 

In  addition  to  the  management  of  his  own  private  con- 
cerns, he  has  acted  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  affairs  of  the 
town,  and  in  the  politics  of  New  Hampshire.  His  native 
shrewdness  and  knowledge  of  human  nature  render  him  a 
valuable  counselor  among  his  neighbors  and  townsmen.  He 
has  represented  the  town  twice  in  the  State  Legislature; 
and  has  been  elected  Selectman  eighteen  times,  fifteen  of 
which  he  has  been  chairman  of  the  board.  During  the 
rebellion,  the  financial  affairs  of  the  town  were  managed 
with  so  much  success  by  him  and  his  associates,  that  the 
war  expenses  of  Croydon  were  comparatively  less  than  those 
of  any  other  town  in  the  State.  In  1846  he  was  elected 
Road  Commissioners,  and  in  1864  he  was  appointed  Messen- 
ger to  carry  the  electoral  vote  of  New  Hampshire  to  AVash- 
ington. 

As  a  politician  he  is  known  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his 
native  town.  His  opponents  give  him  the  credit  of  possessing 
a  large  share  of  sagacity;  and  they  ascribe  to  him  a  controll- 
ing influence  with  the  political  party  to  which  he  belongs. 
And  it  will  be  admitted  by  all  that  for  years  his  influence 
has  been  very  sensibly  felt  in  the  councils  of  the  Republican 
party  of  New  Hampshire. 

Paine  Durkbe,  son  of  Rufus,  was  bom  on  the  7th  day  of 
October,  1817.  He  followed  the  vocation  of  his  father,  that 
of  tanner,  at  the  East  Village  until  1852,  when  he  went  to 


98 

California  and  worked  in  the  mines  one  year.     In  March, 

1861,  he  was  elected  Kepresentative  of  Croydon,  and  in 
September  of  the  same  year  enlisted  into  the  military 
service;  was  chosen  First  Lieutenant,  and  stationed  at 
Fort  Constitution  in  Portsmouth  Harbor.  He  was  detailed 
as  Quarter  Master,  and  acted  in  that  capacity  until  May, 

1862,  when  the  illness  of  his  family  obliged  him  to  leave  the 
service.  In  1864  he  again  entered  the  service,  enlisting  into 
the  First  Regt.  Heavy  Artillery.  He  was  chosen  First 
Lieutenant  of  the  11th  Co.,  and  was  stationed  in  the 
defenses  of  Washington;  where  he  was  again  detailed  as 
Quarter-Master,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  performed 
with  fidelity  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  April,  1866,  he 
was  appointed  Inspector  of  Customs  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
which  office  he  now  holds. 

La  VINA  DuRKEE,  sistcr  of  the  foregoing,  married  John  B. 
Stowell,  Esq.,  and  removed  to  Newport,  where  he  became  a 
prominent  and  influential  man,  and  held  many  important 
offices.     He  afterwards  removed  to  Manchester,  N.  H. 

3D"WI3SrisrEI_iXj. 

Amos,  Ira  and  Cyrus  Dwinnell  were  in  the  early  days 
mechanics  at  the  Flat. 


Stephen  Eastman  was  a  cloth-dresser  by  trade,  resided 
at  the  Flat,  and  for  many  years  took  a  conspicuous  part  in 
the  affairs  of  the  town.  He  was  for  a  long  time  a  leading 
Justice,  for  a  dozen  years  Selectman,  and  Eepresentative  in 


Lj^U^ 


9"9 

1817,  '18  and  '19.     He  was  affable,  honest  in  his  dealings, 
and  much  respected. 

Moses  Eastman,  a  noted  school-master,  was  son  of  Philip 
Eastman,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  at  Eyder  Corner. 

Joseph  Eastman  came  to  this  town  from  Hopkinton, 
N.  H.,  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  and  settled  at  the 
East  Village.  He  was  a  joiner  by  trade,  and  a  valuable 
citizen.  He  afterwards  removed  to  the  west  part  of  the 
town  and  turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He  was  a  Repre- 
sentative in  1838  and  1839. 

Timothy  C.  Eastman,  son  of  Joseph  Eastman,  Esq.,  was 
born  May  30,  1821.  His  time  during  his  minority  was 
divided  between  farming,  mechanical  work,  teaching,  and 
attending  school  at  Kimball  Union  Academy.  In  1845 
he  married  Lucy,  daughter  of  John  Putnam,  Esq.  After 
fpur  years  of  farming  in  the  East,  he  removed  to  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  in  1850,  and  commenced  the  milk  trade.  After  the 
first  two  years  he  kept  one  hundred  cows.  In  1853,  in 
connection  with  his  milk  business,  he  commenced  dealing  in 
cattle  for  the  Cleveland  market,  and  in  1854  began  to  ship 
them  to  New  York  and  Boston.  In  1857  he  removed  to 
New  York,  where  he  has  since  resided,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  successful  dealers  in  cattle  in  the  city. 
He  has  achieved  a  handsome  fortune.  In  youth  he  was 
fond  of  hunting  and  fishing,  and  being  a  man  of  uncommon 
physical  power  was  always  the  champion  of  the  wrestling 
match.  During  the  past  year  he  has  purchased  him  a  beau- 
tiful farm  on  the  Hudson  Kiver,  about  sixty  miles  above  the 
city  of  New  York,  containing  four  hundred  acres  of  choice 


100 

land,  where,  besides  a  large  number  of  working  and  fat  oxen 
and  horses,  he  keeps  over  one  hundred  cows,  from  which 
during  the  past  season  he  has  sold  over  ^10,000  worth  of 
milk.  Many  are  they  who  can  attest  to  the  generous 
hospitality  of  Mr.  Eastman. 

Prosper  L.  Eastman,  son  of  Joseph  Eastman,  Esq.,  was 
born  March  1,  1825.  Jan.  4,  1846,  married  Eleanor  H. 
Haven,  daughter  of  Moses,  and  granddaughter  of  Rev.  Jacob 
Haven.  In  1855  he  went  West,  and  engaged  as  a  drover  in 
Ohio  and  Wisconsin  for  four  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time  he  returned  to  New  York  City,  and  became 
connected  in  business  with  his  brother  as  a  cattle  broker. 
He  is  now  located  at  Albany — the  great  cattle  rendezvous 
from  the  West — where  he  is  operating  in  connection  with  his 
brother  at  New  York,  Like  his  brother,  in  him  are  com- 
bined enterprise  and  sound  judgment. 


Leister  Hall  Elliot,  son  of  Dea.  Ezra  Elliot,  was  born 
August  1,  1835;  fitted  for  college  at  Essex,  Vt.;  graduated 
at  the  University  of  Vermont,  at  Burlington,  August,  1861, 
and  at  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  City, 
June,  1864.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Brooklyn 
Congregational  Association,  April  6,  1864;  acted  as  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Colchester,  Y t.,  for  one  year, 
and  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church 
at  Winooski,  Yt.,  May  2,  1866,  October  2d,  1866,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Lois  M.  Johnson,  of  Greensboro,  Yt. 


/     - 


101 

E:iyLE:E?.ir. 

Gen.  Nathan  Emery,  an  active  and  successful  farmer, 
was  noted  for  his  public  spirit,  and  more  especially  for  his 
zeal  and  interest  in  the  militia.  He  passed  through  all  the 
various  grades  from  private  to  Major  General,  and  contrib- 
uted liberally  both  of  time  and  money  to  maintain  the 
honor  of  the  institution.  He  married  Esther  Hagar,  a  lady 
of  excellent  judgment.  He  died  at  the  Flat — whither  he 
had  removed  to  spend  his  declining  years — in  1857,  aged  65 
years. 

FOSTER.. 

Herschel  Foster,  clergyman  at  Fairlee,  Vt.,  born  in 
1801,  is  son  of  Lemuel  and  Chloe  Powers  Foster,  and  on 
the  mother's  side  grandson  of  Ezekiel  Powers. 

:p:e?.ye. 

David  Frye,  the  father  of  the  Fryes,  came  to  this  town 
from  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  and  settted  in  the  west  part 
of  the  town,  near  the  Mountain. 


John  Ferrin  married  Hannah  Jacobs,  daughter  of 
Whitman  Jacobs,  and  after  devoting  several  years  to  form- 
ing in  Croydon,  removed  to  Morristown,  Vt.,  where  ho 
carried  on  a  successful  mercantile  business,  and  where  he 
occupied  a  prominent  position  in  town.  He  was  Represent- 
ative two  years,  and  an  active  justice  until  his  death.     He 


102 

was  a  man  of  large  physical  and  mental  endowments.  His 
eldest  son,  Whitman  W.,  is  a  distinguished  lawyer  at 
Montpelier;  and  his  second  son,  Harbison,  a  worthy 
farmer,  has  been  a  Representative  from  Morristown. 


Rev.  Luther  Jacobs  Fletcher,  son  of  David  Fletcher, 
was  born  Nov.  25,  1818.  His  father  was  a  blacksmith  by 
tmde,  and  he,  the  youngest  son,  was  the  "  heir  apparent"  to 
the  bellows  and  the  anvil;  but  his  love  for  books  was  stronger 
than  the  paternal  decree.  He  pursued  his  preparatory  stud- 
ies at  Unity  Academy,  and  graduated  at  the  Norwich  Uni- 
versity, 1841.  In  1842  he  was  settled  as  pastor  of  the 
Universalist  church  in  Surry,  N.  H.  The  year  after,  he  was 
chosen  Principal  of  the  Mount  Caesar  Seminary  at  Swanzey, 
but  the  duties  of  his  two-fold  office  proving  too  severe  for 
him,  after  three  5'^ears  service  he  removed  to  Brattleboro, 
Yt.;  from  thence  he  was  called  to  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and 
soon  after  to  Lowell,  where  he  labored  for  four  years. 

Here  pecuniary  considerations  induced  him  to  turn  his 
attention  to  the  law.  In  this  profession  also  he  was  quite  suc- 
cessful. His  clear  head,  ready  talent,  and  eloquent  tongue, 
made  him  quite  popular.  At  the  end  of  three  years  he  was 
appointed  Commissioner  of  Insolvency,  and  soon  after  eleva- 
ted to  the  position  of  Judge.  When  this  court  was  united 
with  that  of  the  Probate,  he  re-entered  the  ministry,  and 
returned  to  his  old  society  at  Jjowell.  He  remained  there 
but  three  years,  when  he  was  called  to  settle  in  the  city  of 
Brooklyn,  but  the  health  of  his  son  induced  him  to  remove 
to  Bath,  Me.,  where  he  is  now  settled  over  a  large  society. 


103 

He  has  published  a  Service- Book  and  a  series  of  text-books 
which  are  quite  popular,  and  is  now  publishing  a  work  enti- 
tled, Gloria  Patria,  consisting  of  Prayers,  Chants  and 
Liturgical  services  for  public  worship.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Kepresentatives  of  Massachusetts,  in  1856,  in 
which  body  he  took  an  active  and  leading  part. 

Cy}ius  Kingsbury  Fletcher,  second  son  of  Timothy 
Fletcher — who  was  for  a  long  time  a  worthy,  gifted  and  zeal- 
ous deacon  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Newport — was  one  of 
the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  is  a  most  worthy  and 
exemplaiy  farmer.  He  married  Kachel  Jacobs,  daughter  of 
Luther,  and  resides  on  the  old  "Jacobs  Farm,"  so  long  occu- 
pied by  her  grandfather,  Whitman  Jacobs. 


William  Gibson,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  town, 
married  Abigail  Sanger,  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Sanger.  They 
had  eight  children.  The  following  includes  those  of  the 
family,  in  part,  who  have  turned  their  attention  to  literarj^ 
and  professional  pursuits. 

WiLLARD  P.  Gibson,  son  of  William,  born  September  2, 
1798,  studied  medicine  and  graduated  at  Castleton,  Yt.,  in 
1822;  spent  fifteen  years  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Newport  and  elsewhere,  and  then  turned  his  attention  to 
theology.  He  died  October  23,  1837,  four  days  after  his 
ordination. 

Otis  Gibson,  son  of  William,  was  born  June  8,  1807; 
studied  medicine,  graduated  at  Woodstock,  Vt.,  in  1830, 
and  settled  at  Wellsboro,  Pa. 


104 

Alanson,  son  of  Gardner,  and  grandson  of  William,  was 
a  clergyman.     Is  now  deceased. 

Austin,  son  of  Samuel  and  Susan  Gibson  Putnam,  clergy- 
man.    (See  Sketch.) 

BtrsHROD  Rice  and  Gardner  Winslow,  sons  of  Will- 
iam Gibson,  were  both  physicians.  The  former  died  at 
Pomfret,  Vt.,  many  years  since;  the  latter  entered  the  army 
as  an  officer,  and  was  killed  at  Cold  Harbor. 

Of  the  children  of  Winslow  Gibson,  Otis  is  a  missionary 
at  Fuh  Chau  in  China;  Henry  graduated  at  the  New  York 
Medical  College  and  went  to  China,  where  he  died ;  Gard- 
ner, clergyman,  resides  at  Moira,  N.  Y.;  Franklin,  clergy- 
man, died  in  Connecticut. 

Lizzie  and  Mary  W.  F.,  daughters  of  Willard  P.  Gibson, 
made  literature  a  profession.  The  latter  has  for  several 
years  past  resided  in  Europe,  where,  besides  publishing  sev- 
eral books,  she  has  contributed  much  both  of  prose  and 
poetry  to  the  magazines. 

Willard  Putnam  and  Otis  Lloyd,  sons  of  John  Gibson, 
are  both  clergymen. 

Lewis  W.,  a  clergyman,  and  Otis,  a  physician,  are  sons 
of  Otis  Gibson. 


Samuel  Goldthwait  came  to  this  town  from  North- 
bridge,  Mass.,  in  1780,  and  settled  in  the  north-westerly 
part  of  the  town;  was  an  extensive  and  wealthy  farmer; 
was  a  Representative  and  Selectman,  and  took  an  active  part 


105 

in  the  construction  of  the  "  Croydon  Turnpike."     He  died 
at  the  advanced  age  of  93. 

Capt.  Zina  Goldthwait,  son  of  Samuel,  was  born  Nov. 
6, 1787,  commenced  on  the  homestead,  and  was  an  extensive 
and  tidy  farmer,  kept  a  dairy  of  fifty  cows.  He  was  a  high- 
toned,  exemplary  man,  gentlemanly  in  his  bearing,  and  quite 
a  favorite.  While  in  town  he  held  many  ofiices.  He  removed 
to  Newport,  where  he  has  been  elected  to  many  important 
town  offices,  and  been  a  leading  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  He  married  Anna,  daughter  of  Col.  Henry 
Howard. 


c3-ooz)'vsriisr. 

Israel  Goodwin,  remembered  by  many  for  his  clear 
intellect  and  social  qualities,  resided  at  the  Flat,  and  in  his 
earlier  days  worked  at  cloth-dressing.  He  married  Miss 
Betsey  Melendy,  and  about  the  year  1824  removed  to  Plain- 
field,  Vt.,  where  he  occupied  a  prominent  position;  was 
Representative  two  years,  and  State  Senator  two  years. 
He  was  appointed  Judge  and  removed  to  Montpelier,  where 
he  died.  He  exerted  a  wide  influence,  and  was  esteemed 
one  of  the  most  correct  and  competent  business  men  in  the 
county. 


C3-TJSTi:tT. 

Dr.  Ezra  Gustin,  son  of  Ezra  Gustin,  studied  medicine 
with  Dr.  Elias  Frost,  of  Plainfield,  and  after  three  years  of 
most  successful  practice  in  his  native  town,  died  November 


106 

29, 1818,  aged  30  years.  As  a  teacher  he  was  much  beloved. 
As  a  man  he  was  possessed  of  superior  judgment,  self-reliant, 
energetic,  and  much  a  favorite.  He  married  Anna  Hold- 
brook,  daughter  of  David,  who  survived  him  but  one  year — 
left  one  child,  the  late  Mrs.  Lewis  Richardson,  who  died  in 
1858. 


Lieut.  Edwaed  Hall  came  to  town  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, bringing  with  him  seven  sons — Ezekiel,  Abijah,  James, 
Edward,  John,  Darius  and  Ezra — and  settled  on  the  flat, 
south  of  the  farm  of  J.  Nutting.  From  this  family  and 
Rev.  Samuel  Read  Hall  have  descended  the  Halls.  The 
family  were  shrewd,  and  fond  of  amusements. 

Abijah  Hall,  remembered  for  his  capital  jokes  and  un- 
fathomed  resource  of  fun  and  anecdote,  was  drowned  near 
the  Glidden  Bridge. 

Capt.  Amasa  Hall,  son  of  Abijah  Hall,  was  born  Feb. 
7,  1789;  married  Rebecca  L.  Melendy  in  1811.  He  was  an 
active  business  man  and  one  of  our  most  successful  farmers. 
He  was  distinguished  for  energy  and  decision  of  character, 
a  clear  head  and  ready  judgment.  He  belonged  to  that 
portion  of  Croydon  which  was  subsequently  set  off  to  Gran- 
tham. He  was  a  Captain  in  the  war  of  1812;  was  Select- 
man of  Grantham  for  eight  years;  Representative  -from 
Croydon  in  1824  and  1825,  and  from  Grantham  in  1832, 
'34,  '35,  and  '36;  Road  Commissioner  in  1841,  and  a  Direct- 
or in  Sugar  River  Bank  from  its  first  organization  until 
1861.  He  was  an  influential  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church.     In  1858  he  retired  from  active  business. 


107 

Adolphus  Hall,  only  son  of  Amasa  Hall,  was  born 
December  7, 1811;  married  Sally  Leavitt,  daughter  of  Dud- 
ley, and  sister  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  Leavitt.  Like  his  father 
he  was  a  successful  business  man.  He  was  bred  a  farmer, 
but  since  1861  has  been  engaged  in  mercantile  business. 
He  was  Selectman  of  Grantham  in  1859  and  1862,  Kepre- 
sentative  in  1860  and  1861,  and  County  Treasurer  in  1865 
and  1866. 

Daniel  R.  Hall,  son  of  Abijah  Hall,  and  grandson  of 
Lieut.  Edward  Hall,  was  born  July  3,  1802.  He  took 
much  interest  in  the  militia;  was  an  efficient  officer  in  the 
"  Croydon  Bifle  Company;"  was  Colonel  of  the  31st  Eegi- 
ment,  and  Brigade  Inspector  under  Gen,  Nathan  Emery. 
He  was  Town  Clerk  ten  years.  Selectman  in  1855,  and 
Representative  in  1862  and  1863.  He  is  a  Director  in  the 
First  National  Bank  at  Newport.  As  a  Justice  he  has  for 
many  years  done  most  of  the  business  in  his  section  of  the 
town.     He  married  Martha,  daughter  of  James  Perkins. 

Horace  P.  Hall,  son  of  Col.  Daniel  R.  Hall,  was  born 
August  5, 1827.  He  fitted  for  college  at  Marlowand  Kim- 
ball Union  Academies.  After  spending  two  years  at  Mid- 
dletown  College,  Ct.,  and  another  at  Amherst  College,  Mass., 
he  abandoned  his  studies  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  went 
West.  He  was  for  two  years  Principal  of  Marshall  Academy, 
111.,  for  seven  a  Professor  of  Latin  in  Union  College  at 
Merora,  Indiana,  and  is  now  Principal  of  the  Academy  at 
Pendleton,  Indiana.  He  was  for  a  time  connected  with  the 
army.  In  1863  the  Asbury  University  conferred  on  him  the 
honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

James  Hall,  son  of  James  and  Huldah  Cooper  Hall,  was 
for  many  years  an  enterprising  farmer  and   merchant  in 


108 

Croydon,  but  removed  to  Newport,  where  he  now  resides, 
and  where  he  has  been  elected  to  many  offices,  and  has 
exerted  a  wide  influence. 

John  Hall,  son  of  James  Hall,  Esq.,  and  grandson  of 
James  Hall,  Sr.,  was  born  in  October,  1813;  studied  medicine 
with  his  uncle  Albina  Hall;  graduated  at  Brunswick,  Me., 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Newark, 
Ohio,  where  he  died.  His  two  daughters,  Julia  and  Mary, 
are  both  well  educated  and  accomplished  teachers, 

Albina  Hall  and  Lyman  Hall,  sons  of  James  Hall, 
after  spending  most  of  their  minority  in  town,  turned  their 
attention  to  medicine.  The  former  married  Livia  Powers, 
and  after  practicing  awhile  in  Maine  and  New  York  has 
returned  to  Croydon.  The  latter  followed  his  profession  at 
Cornish  Flat  until  his  death,  which  occurred  but  a  few  years 
since. 

Ahira  Hall,  son  of  James  Hall,  removed  to  Chau- 
tauque  County,  western  New  York,  where  he  was  an  active 
Justice.  His  son  John,  a  wealthy  lawyer,  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Assembly  of  the  State.  James,  a  physician,  was 
surgeon  in  the  army,  and  died  in  the  service.  Albina,  a 
clergyman,  is  settled  at  Girard,  Pa. 

Capt.  Edward  Hall,  son  of  Lieut.  Edward  Hall,  opened 
the  first  store  of  note  in  town.  It  was  situated  on  the  top 
of  the  swell  of  land  between  East  Village  and  Four  Cor- 
ners. He  is  remembered  as  a  shrewd,  prosperous  trader. 
He  died  March  14,  1817,  aged  57  years. 


109 

Calvin  Hall,  son  of  Capt.  Edward  Hall,  a  popular  man 
and  extensive  farmer,  after  enjoying  many  honors  in  his 
native  town,  removed  to  Lowell,  Mass.,  where  he  now  resides. 

Nathan  Hall,  son  of  Edward  Hall,  Jr.,  is  an  independ- 
ent farmer  residing  at  the  Flat.  He  was  Chief  Marshal  at 
the  Celebration,  has  been  many  years  elected  to  town  offices, 
and  is  now  a  Commissioner  for  Sullivan  County. 

George  Hall,  son  of  Edward  Hall,  Jr.,  was  on  board 
the  Cumberland  during  its  fight  with  the  Merrimac,  and 
swam  to  the  boat  when  it  went  down.  The  British  and 
French  ships  were  by,  as  witnesses  of  the  conflict.  The 
Captain  saw  what  the  result  must  be,  and  inquired  of  his 
men,  "  Shall  we  strike  colors  and  save  life,  or  fight  on  ?" 
The  gallant  crew  replied,  "  We  can  be  shot,  or  sunk  in  the 
ocean,  but  surrender — never." 

Pliny  Hall,  son  of  Martin,  and  grandson  of  Capt. 
Edward  Hall,  was  born  Sept.  21,  1817.  At  the  age  of 
seven,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  went  to  live  with  his 
uncle  Calvin  Hall,  and  labored  on  the  farm  until  he  was 
twenty-one.  In  1842  he  entered  the  store  of  Buel  Durkee, 
Esq.,  where  he  was  principal  clerk  for  nine  years,  and  was 
chief  clerk  to  his  successor  for  three  years.  He  then  return- 
ed to  farming,  which  occupation  he  has  since  followed.  He 
was  appointed  U.  S.  Assistant  Census  Marshal  in  1850 ; 
was  elected  Kepresentative  in  1851  and  1852,  and  County 
Treasurer  in  1855  and  1856.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Apportionment  of  the  Public  Taxes,  in 
June,  1852,  and  U.  S.  Enrolling  Officer  in  1864. 


110 

Capt.  Ariel  Hall,  son  of  Darius  Hall,  married  Ase- 
nath,  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Humphry,  and  after  operating 
awhile  in  town  removed  to  Williamstown,  Vt.,  where  he 
now  resides  and  is  carrying  on  extensive  farming  business. 

Capt.  Worthen  Hall,  son  of  Darius,  and  grandson  of 
Lt.  Edward  Hall,  was  born  July  11,  1802.  He  had  few 
early  advantages  ;  until  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age  he 
struggled  against  all  the  embarrassments  which  a  deficient 
education,  poor  health,  poverty  and  ill-luck,  could  throw  in 
his  pathway.  In  1827  he  went  to  sea  in  a  whaling  vessel, 
before  the  mast,  as  a  common  sailor.  He  was  adapted  to 
the  business,  and  was  regularly  promoted  at  the  end  of  each 
successive  voyage,  until  the  fall  of  1837,  when  he  became 
Master  of  the  ship,  which  position  he  held  for  eighteen 
years,  until  he  left  the  sea.  He  has  circumnavigated  the 
earth  twice,  doubled  Cape  Horn  six  times,  and  the  Cape  of 
Grood  Hope  as  many  more  ;  has  killed  five  hundred  whales, 
and  brought  home  more  than  twenty-two  thousand  barrels 
of  oil.  Aug.  1,  1837,  he  was  married  to  Polly  D.  Lovewell, 
who  was  with  him  some  ten  years  at  sea,  two  of  which  she 
spent  at  the  Sandwich  Islands.  He  was  elected  a  Director 
of  the  Sugar  River  Bank,  and  is  now  a  director  in  the  First 
National  Bank  at  Newport,  and  was  chosen  Representative 
from  his  native  town  in  1866.  He  was  generous  to  his  con- 
nections, and  retired  with  a  fortune.  His  present  affluence 
and  luxury  presents  a  pleasing  contrast  with  his  early  pover- 
ty, and  affords  to  the  young  another  example  illustrating 
the  truth  that  early  indigence  and  embarrassments  are  no 
insurmountable  barrier  to  success  in  after-life. 

While  at  sea,  a  most  thrilling  incident  occurred  :  Mary, 
his  darling  and  only  daughter,  while  at  play,  fell  overboard, 


Ill 

and  in  a  moment  would  be  swallowed  up  hy  the  angry  waves. 
In  an  instant,  forgetting  all  personal  danger,  he  plunged  in- 
to the  ocean  after  her.  Buoyed  up  by  her  clothes,  she  rode 
upon  the  waves  like  a  little  fairy,  and  as  her  father  ap- 
proached she  raised  up  her  hands  imploringly  towards  him, 
exclaiming,  "Father,  I  am  overboard!"  And  now  who 
shall  depict  the  terrible  frenzy  of  that  wife  and  mother  as 
she  sees  them  both  sinking  to  a  watery  grave  !  She  knew  her 
husband  was  unaccustomed  to  swim  ;  the  ship  under  full 
headway,  was  fast  leaving  them  behind  ;  to  her  anxious 
heart  it  seemed  as  though  the  boat  never  would  lower,  and 
she  felt  that  both  must  be  lost.  Twice  had  they  already 
gone  down.  Once  more,  and  they  shall  never  again  rise  to 
bless  her  on  earth.  It  is  the  last  time — "  0  my  God  !  they 
are  sinking  !"  Bushing  forward  with  both  arms  extended, 
as  though  she  would  fly  to  their  relief,  she  exclaimed  in  the 
wildest  despair,  "  They  are  lost !  they  are  lost  \"  Overcome 
by  her  emotions,  she  sank  down  in  unconsciousness.  As  a 
good  Providence  would  have  it,  both  were  rescued  alive. 
Nothing  can  be  more  touching  than  the  pitying  moan  of 
that  daughter,  as  she  clung  to  the  bedside  of  her  father 
during  the  hours  of  his  slow  recovery  from  his  death-grapple 
with  the  ocean. 

DocT.  Silas  Hall,  son  of  Ezra  Hall,  was  born  in  Dec. 
1792.  In  1808,  moved  with  his  father  to  Cayuga  Co.,  N.  Y. 
In  1815,  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  with  Consider 
King,  an  excellent  physician,  and  received  his  diploma 
in  1818.  After  ten  years  of  practice  at  Sempronius,  the 
county  seat,  he  removed  to  Monrovia,  where  he  has  since 
resided. 


112 

Samuel  Eead  Hall,  son  of  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Hall,  was 
born  Oct.  27,  1795.  He  was  educated  at  home,  and  at  the 
Academies  of  Bridgeton,  Me.,  and  at  Plainfield,  N.  H.  He 
studied  theology,  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1822,  and  was 
ordained  over  the  church  at  Concord,  Vt.,  in  1823.  In  1830 
he  was  appointed  principal  of  the  English  Department  in 
Philips  Academy  at  Andover,  Mass.  In  1837,  took  charge 
of  the  Holmes  Plymouth  Academy  at  Plymouth,  N.  H., 
and  in  1840  was  installed  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Craftsbury,  Vt.  He  has  been  an  extensive  au- 
thor, having  published  some  fifteen  or  twenty  volumes  on 
various  subjects.  In  1838  the  degree  of  M.  A.  was  conferred 
on  him  by  Dartmouth  College. 

ia:.^"V"Ensr. 

Rev.  Jacob  Haven,  son  of  David  Haven,  was  born  at 
Framingham,  Mass.,  April  25,  1763.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1785,  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Mr, 
Kellogg  of  his  native  town,  and  was  ordained  and  settled  at 
Croydon,  June  18,  1788.  As  a  preacher,  his  sermons  were 
always  terse  and  logical,  and  his  oratory  solemn  and  impressive. 
He  was  Town  Clerk  thirty-one  years.  He  died  March  17, 
1845,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two  years.  As  he  was  the 
first,  and  for  more  than  half  a  century  almost  the  only  clergy- 
man in  town,  he  is,  and  will  long  continue  to  be  recollected 
with  much  interest — and  few  men  have  a  better  claim  to 
the  remembrance  of  their  townsmen.  (See  also  speech  of 
Dr.  Stow.) 

Whipple  Haven,  a  brother  of  the  above,  married  Judith 
Stow,  an  aunt  of  Baron  Stow;  was  a  cabinet  maker  at  the 


fa^cyr^  J^i/e^jrt_^ 


113 

East  VillagGj  and  is  remembered  as  a  worthy  man  and  good 
meclianic. 

Hannah  Haven,  daughter  of  Kev.  Jacob  Haven,  and 
second  wife  of  Simeon  Wheeler,  was  born  April  28, 1795,  and 
died  at  Newport,  Dec.  20, 1842.  She  was  an  intelligent  and 
well  educated  lady,  and  much  beloved  by  her  associates.  She 
was  the  mother  of  several  children,  some  of  whom  survived  her 
and  partake  of  the  mental  and  moral  qualities  which  distin- 
guished her.  Jacob  W.,  a  young  man  of  much  promise,  and 
a  printer  and  editor  by  profession,  died  in  1853.  Lucy  P. 
married  Frederick  Stevens,  Esq.,  and  resides  with  her  husband 
and  young  family  in  Minnesota.  Hannah,  her  youngest 
surviving  daughter,  married  Austin  Corbin,  Esq.,  for- 
merly of  Newport.  He  was  for  some  years  a  successful  law- 
yer and  banker  in  Iowa,  and  is  at  present  a  banker  in  the 
city  of  New  York.     The  family  resides  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Miranda  Haven,  youngest  child  of  Eev.  Jacob  and 
Asenath  Haven,  was  born  March  8,  1799,  married  William 
Armes,  Esq.,  of  Stanstead,  Canada  East.  They  afterwards 
removed  to  Sherbrook,  C.  E.,  where  he  died  and  where  his 
widow  still  remains.  They  had  six  children.  Adeline 
Asenath  married  Samuel  Tusk,  of  Sherbrook.  Miranda 
married  Thomas  Goldsmith,  a  successful  goldsmith  at  Troy, 
N.  Y.  Adelia  married  John  McNeil,  and  Calista  Lem- 
uel Farewell,  both  residing  at  Sherbrook.  William,  the 
son,  went  to  California. 

Amos  Hagar  married  Sarah  Powers  and  settled  on  the 
Hagar  place,  opposite  the  C.  K.  Fletcher  farm,  and  was  the 
man  from  whom  have  descended  the  Hagars. 


114 

i3:oxjBI?.ook:. 

Leander  HolbrooKj  son  of  Peter,  and  f^randson  of  David 
Holbrook,  was  born  April  11,  1815.  The  family  came  from 
Upton,  Mass.  His  father,  a  merchant  at  the  East  Village, 
died  in  1822.  Owing  to  a  want  of  proper  management  in 
the  settlement  of  his  estate,  the  son  was  left  penniless.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen,  he  left  the  farm  and  prepared  for  col- 
lege, defraying  his  expenses  by  teaching,  after  which  he 
studied  law.  He  attended  the  Law  School  at  Harvard 
College,  Mass.  Was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1846,  and 
soon  after  opened  an  office  at  Milford,  Mass.,  where  he  now 
resides. 

John  Humphry  came  to  this  town  early  from  Hingham, 
Mass.,  and  settled  on  the  east  slope  of  the  Pinnacle  on  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  his  son  Piam.  He  was  a  substantial 
farmer.  Of  his  children,  Nathaniel  and  Piam,  both  excel- 
lent farmers,  remain  near  the  homestead,  while  Leavitt,  a 
blacksmith,  John  and  George  removed  to  the  Flat.  Susan 
was  a  noted  tailoress.  Many  a  boy  "  with  shining  morn- 
ing face,"  has  tripped  to  school  with  a  lightar  heart  for 
the  "  new  spencer"  which  "  Aunt  Susan"  has  made  him. 
Ltdia  married  the  Hon.  Moses  Humphry,  of  Concord,  and 
Asenath  married  Capt.  Ariel  Hall,  of  Williamstown,  Vt. 

Moses  Humphry  was  born  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  in  1807. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-four  he  was  married  to  Lydia  Hum- 
phry, daughter  of  John  Humphry,  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Croydon.     At  fourteen  he  commenced  going  to  sea,  and 


115 

at  nineteen  was  appointed  Master  of  a  vessel,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  until  he  left  the  sea  at  the  age  of  twenty-five. 
He  was  the  first  man  that  commenced  the  manufacture  of 
mackerel  kits  by  machinery,  which  business  he  has  pursued 
with  ever-increasing  energy  since,  at  Hingham,  at  Croydon 
nine  years,  and  now  at  Concord.  In  1853,  when  Concord 
adopted  the  city  charter,  he  was  elected  to  the  City  Council, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1854,  of  which  body  he  was  President. 
In  1855  and  1856,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  Aldermen;  in 
1857  and  1858  was  Representative;  in  1861  was  elected 
Mayor  and  held  the  office  two  years;  was  again  elected  to 
the  same  office  in  1865,  and  declined  a  re-election  the 
following  year.  In  1865  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  State  Reform  School,  which  office  he  now 
holds. 

Denison  Humphry,  son  of  Leavitt,  one  of  the  Commit- 
tee of  Arrangements,  is  a  farmer  and  trader  at  the  Flat, 
and  has  been  Selectman,  and  a  Representative  two  years. 
Like  his  father  and  other  members  of  the  family,  he  was 
noted  for  superior  mechanical  skill. 

Stillman  Humphry,- son  of  John  Humphry,  Jr.,  was 
born  November  15,  1833;  worked  on  the  farm  until  he  was 
seventeen  years  of  age,  three  years  in  a  cooper's  shop,  three 
years  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  at  West  Concord,  and  two  years 
as  clerk  in  a  hardware  store  at  Concord,  N.  H.  In  1858  he 
formed  a  business  cpnnection  with  Mr.  David  A.  Warde, 
under  the  style  of  Warde  &  Humphry,  and  commenced  the 
hardware  trade  at  Concord,  where  he  has  since  remained, 
proving  one  of  the  most  popular  and  thriving  merchants  in 
the  State.     In  1857  he  was  married  to  Miss  Virtaline  C. 


116 

Hall,  of  Maine.  Like  many  of  the  sons  of  Croydon,  his 
parents  were  poor,  but  honest  and  respectable.  Their  pray- 
ers and  blessings,  added  to  his  own  resolute  will,  constituted 
his  original  stock  in  trade. 


William  Henry  Hurd,  oldest  son  of  Henry  and  Abigail 
Gibson  Hurd,  was  bom  at  Croydon  on  the  30th  of  August, 
1829.  Fitted  for  college  at  Kimball  Union  Academy; 
studied  medicine  with  Dr.  McQuestion,  of  Washington,  and 
Dr.  Justus  Hurd,  of  Mississippi;  attended  lectures  at 
Cincinnati  Medical  College,  and  graduated  from  Hanover  in 
1854.  He  commenced  practice  at  Wells  River,  Vt.,  but 
removed  to  Ashton,  Canada  West,  where  he  remained  until 
1858.  He  then  removed  to  Carleton  Place,  Canada  West, 
where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married  May  10,  1859,  to 
Miss  Rosalind  Rosamond,  daughter  of  James  Rosamond, 
banker  of  Almonte,  Canada  West. 

WiLLARD  Otis  Hurd,  son  of  Henry  Hurd,  was  born 
December  7,  1838.  Studied  medicine  with  his  brother.  Dr. 
W.  H.  Hurd,  at  Ashton,  Canada  West,  and  graduated  at 
the  Albany  Medical  College  in  1860.  He  was  connected 
with  his  brother  in  practice  at  Carleton  Place,  Canada  West, 
until  July,  1863,  when  he  enlisted  into  the  U.  S.  Army; 
was  commissioned  Assistant  Surgeon  in  the  83d  Regt.  N.  Y. 
Vols.,  and  on  the  mustering  out  of  that  regiment  in  1864, 
was  transferred  to  the  97th  N.  Y.  Vols.  In  the  autumn  of 
1865,  he  commenced  practice  in  Grrantham,  N.  H.,  where  he 
now  resides.  In  August,  1866,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Randilla  W.  Howard,  of  that  place. 


117 

Charles  Eugene  Hurd,  son  of  Henry  Hurd,  was  bom  in 
Croydon,  June  15,  1833.  He  became  connected  editorially 
with  the  "Tribune,"  a  semi- weekly  journal  published  at 
Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1856.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
he  returned  to  Boston  and  devoted  himself  mainly  to  report- 
ing and  writing  for  the  press.  In  1864  he  became  connected 
with  the  "  Leader,"  a  Sunday  morning  paper  published  in 
Boston.  In  September,  1865,  he  became  city  editor  for  the 
"  Erie  Dispatch,"  at  Erie,  Pa.,  and  now  occupies  the  chair  of 
Associate  Editor  on  the  same  journal. 


JosiAH  Ide,  son  of  Daniel  Ide,  one  of  the  early  settlers, 
deserves  a  remembrance  as  one  of  the  most  worthy  and 
respected  farmers  in  town. 

Whitman  Jacobs,  son  of  Eev.  Whitman  Jacobs,  of 
Koyalston,  Mass.,  came  to  Croydon  about  the  year  1777, 
and  settled  near  the  south  line  of  the  town,  south  of  C.  K. 
Fletcher's  farm,  but  subsequently  built  where  Mr.  Fletcher 
now  lives.  From  him  have  descended  the  Jacobses.  He  was 
a  shrewd  financier,  and  died  possessed  of  a  large  estate. 

His  son  Luther  settled  on  Stow  Hill,  and  left  quite  a 
family.  Eli  married  Jerusha  Whipple  and  removed  to 
Vermont,  and  was  a  worthy  deacon  and  valuable  citizen. 
Hannah  married  John  Ferrin. 

Paul  Jacobs,  son  of  Whitman  Jacobs,  was  born  in  1783. 
He  married  Prudence,  daughter  of  Jonah  Stow.     He  was 


118 

a  man  of  great  energy  of  character,  and  was  eminently 
j)ractical  in  his  views.  He  was  one  of  the  largest  and  best 
farmers  in  town,  often  kept  a  dairy  of  thirty  cows,  and  other 
stock  in  proportion.  He  brought  to  town  several  choice 
breeds  of  cattle  and  sheep.  He  was  the  main  instrument  in 
getting  the  river-road  through  from  the  Flat  to  the  East 
Village — a  deed  that  entitles  his  memory  to  the  respect  of 
all  after-generations  of  his  townsmen.  He  built  a  factory  at 
the  Flat  for  the  manufacture  of  potato  starch.  The  same 
year  in  which  he  died — not  living  to  quite  complete  the 
work — he  built  the  church  at  the  Flat,  at  his  own  expense, 
at  a  cost  of  some  two  thousand  dollars,  and  gave  it  to  the 
Universalist  Society — thus  attesting  both  his  religious  faith 
and  his  generosity.  He  was  Selectman  in  1832,  and  Kepre- 
sentative  in  1831  and  1835.  He  died  September  16,  1854, 
aged  71  years. 


Ephraim  Kempton,  the  father  of  the  Kemptons,  came 
early  to  Croydon  and  purchased  some  four  hundred  acres  of 
land,  covering  all  the  grounds  where  the  Flat  is  now  situa- 
ted, and  built  near  the  residence  of  Capt.  Nathan  Hall.  He 
never  attained  to  great  wealth,  and  was  unassuming  in  his 
manners. 

KoLLiNS  A.  Kempton,  fifth  son  of  Col.  Calvin  Kempton, 
was  bora  Oct.  29,  1826.  In  addition  to  the  district  school, 
he  received  the  instructions  of  his  father  at  home,  who  was 
an  experienced  and  most  faithful  teacher,  and  had  been  for 
thirty  years  Superintending  School  Committee  of  the  town. 


I 


I 


V^^^T-^i^i^*-^^  d:::^^'^ 


119 

His  early  life  was  full  of  poverty  and  discouragements.  At 
the  tender  age  of  nine  years  he  followed  his  mother  to  her 
grave,  and  was  thus  deprived  of  her  guardian  care  and  sym- 
pathy. His  father  had  been  a  large  farmer  and  extensive 
wool-grower,  but  the  revulsions  of  1837  swept  away  his  for- 
tune and  left  him  a  poor  man,  with  a  large  family,  and  hard 
labor  and  few  privileges  was  the  lot  of  the  son.  At  twenty- 
one,  with  a  coarse  freedom  suit,  a  five-dollar  gold  piece,  and 
a  father's  blessing,  he  started  out  in  the  world.  He  first 
went  to  Lowell,  but  here  his  utmost  labor  would  barely  pay 
his  board.  So,  one  pleasant  morning,  with  seventy-five 
cents  in  his  pocket — all  the  money  he  had  left  after  paying 
his  bills — he  started  for  Lawrence,  and  his  trip  to  the  "  new 
city  "  represents  most  graphically  the  discouragements  which 
sometimes  beset  a  young  man  while  starting  out  in  the 
world  :  Arriving  there  he  found  he  had  no  friends,  no 
money,  and  no  employment.  For  two  days  he  sought  most 
earnestly  for  something  to  do, — battling  against  rain,  and 
cold,  and  hunger, — and  every  step  had  been  a  failure,  and 
he  had  been  to  Methuen  and  met  there  the  same  result.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  however,  nothing  daunted,  he  returned 
to  Lowell  full  of  "  pluck  J'  determined  "  to  be  somebody  " 
yet.  He  subsequently  learned  the  joiner's  trade.  In  1851, 
he  married  Maria  J.  Keed,  of  Northfield,  Vt.,  and  com- 
menced business  at  Lawrence.  At  the  end  of  eleven  years 
he  owned  eight  double  tenement  houses,  and  a  steam  mill, 
and  had  been  a  member  of  the  city  government.  In  1862 
he  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  now  resides,  and  is  a  part- 
ner in  three  dry  goods  stores,  with  an  estimated  property  of 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand  dollars — illustrating  in  his  life 
the  truth  of  the  old  maxim  that,  "  A  bad  beginning  makes 
a  good  ending." 


120 

WiLLARD  C.  Kempton,  8011  of  Col.  Calvin  Kempton, 
was  born  Oct.  13,  1840.  He  labored  on  the  farm  at  home 
until  1858.  He  then  attended  school  at  Newport  and  Kim- 
ball Union  Academies  until  1861,  when  he  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  with  his  uncle,  Dr.  W.  Clough,  of  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.  He  attended  lectures  at  Berkshire  and  Hano- 
ver Medical  Colleges.  He  went  to  the  war  as  a  hospital 
steward,  but  was  subsequently  appointed  successively  As- 
sistant Surgeon  of  a  colored  regiment,  of  the  second  Eeg. 
N.  H.  Vols.,  and  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.  He  married 
Elvira  M.  Johnson,  of  Springfield,  N.  H.,  and  is  now  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Mansfield,  Kansas. 

Silas  Kempton,  son  of  Jeremiah,  and  grandson  of 
Ephraim,  the  first  settler  ;  after  carrying  on  a  successful 
tanning  and  shoe  business  at  the  Flat,  removed  to  Newport, 
where  he  is  now  engaged  in  farming. 

Jonas  C.  Kempton,  son  of  Ephraim,  and  grandson  of 
Ephraim  senior,  the  early  settler  of  the  town,  removed  to 
Nashua  and  became  a  confectioner.  He  has  amassed  a  for- 
tune and  been  twice  honored  by  his  adopted  city  with  a  seat 
in  the  Legislature. 


Wm.  Wallace  Kidder,  son  of  Amos  and  Lucinda  Bar- 
ton Kidder,  was  born  Aug.  11,  1845,  studied  medicine  with 
Williams  Barton,  M.  D.;  was  with  Capt.  Ira  McL.  Barton, 
as  orderly  in  the  5th  Reg.  N.  H.  Vols.,  and  also  in  the  9th 
Res.  N.  H.  Vols. 


121 

John  Loverin  came  to  this  town  from  Springfield, 
N.  H. ;  married  a  sister  of  Capt.  Edward  Hall,  settled  on 
the  Gr.  W,  Cain  place,  and  died  a  wealthy  farmer. 

Kimball  Loverin,  son  of  John,  has  been  a  successful 
farmer. 


Samuel  Marsh,  from  whom  have  descended  the  Marshes, 
came  early  to  town  and  settled  near  the  Four  Corners.  His 
wife,  who  had  long  lived  in  the  family  of  a  physician,  and 
had  become  skilled  in  the  "  healing  art,"  kept  the  first  prim- 
itive "Apothecary's  Shop"  in  town.  Besides  her  knowledge 
of  medicine  she  was  noted  for  her  mechanical  ingenuity. 
The  old  "  dies,"  with  which  she  used  to  print  the  ladies' 
calico  dresses,  are  still  in  being,  as  also  the  "pillion"  on 
which  she  visited  her  patients.  The  husband  died  in  1832, 
aged  94;  the  wife  in  1834,  aged  90  years. 

Samuel  Marsh,  Jr.,  was  father  of  Elom,  one  of  the 
Vice-Presidents  at  the  Celebration,  a  successful  farmer  at 
Westmoreland,  N.  H.,— of  John  L.  who  moved  to  Jefierson 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  has  been  elected  a  Kepresentative 
and  exerted  much  influence,  and  Orren  who  was  educated  at 
Norwich  University  and  went  to  Oregon. 

Dellavan  D.  Marsh,  son  of  William,  and  grandson  of 
Samuel,  was  born  May  8,  1818.  He  studied  medicine  with 
Willard  P.  Gibson,  of  Newport,  and  John  S.  Blanchard,  of 
Cornish;  attended  lectures  at  Woodstock,  Vt.,  and  at  Han- 
over, N.  H.,  and  graduated  from  the  latter  institution  in 


122 

1834.  He  commenced  practice  at  Mount  Desert,  Me.,  the 
same  year,  but  in  1837  returned  to  Croydon,  where  he  has 
since  remained  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  has 
taken  a  deep  interest  in  agriculture.  He  introduced  the 
North  Devon  cattle,  and  in  1848  was  Treasurer  of  the  Coun- 
ty Agricultural  Society.  He. has  been  often  elected  to  town 
offices,  and  in  1839  and  1840  was  elected  Treasurer  of  Sul- 
livan County.     His  daughters  are  graduates  from  Meriden. 

Wm.  H.  Marsh,  a  brother,  is  a  merchant  in  Boston. 


IMIEIjEISrnD'Y'. 

Ebenezer  and  John  Melendy,  twins,  came  to  this 
town  from  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  and  were  among  the 
earliest  settlers. 

William  E.  Melendy,  son  of  Sibley,  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  1812,  was  born  Jan.  2,  1819.  In  1845,  he  removed 
to  Springfield,  N.  H.,  where  he  shared  in  a  good  degree  the 
confidence  of  the  community.  He  was  Postmaster  six 
years,  Selectman  two,  and  Kepresentative  two.  Since  1853, 
he  has  been  engaged  in  mercantile  business.  In  1863,  he 
moved  to  West  Andover,  N.  H.,  where  he  now  resides.  He 
married  Martha  P.,  daughter  of  Ziba  Cooper. 

Elbridge  and  Alonzo  Melendy,  sons  of  John,  after 
struggling  against  all  the  embarrassments  of  early  poverty, 
settled  at  Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  where  they  have  met  with  a  deserv- 
ed success.  Alonzo  carried  oif  the  medals  at  school,  and 
fitted  himself  for  a  successful  teacher — studying  by  the 
light  of  pine  knots  gathered  in  the  woods. 


123 

Samuel  Merrill,  the  father  of  the  MerrillSj  married 
Fannie  Bancroft,  a  great-aunt  of  George  Bancroft  the  his- 
torian. She  is  still  living.  He  died  in  1827,  leaving  a  large 
family  of  small  children. 

Joshua  B.  and  Sherbuen  Merrill,  sons  of  Samuel 
Merrill,  spent  the  earlier  part  of  their  lives  at  the  homestead, 
east  of  Spectacle  Pond.  To  their  early  struggles  with  pov- 
erty they  owe  much  of  those  resolute  wills,  which  have 
enabled  them  to  make  after-progress  in  the  business  world. 
The  former  has  for  several  years  represented  Barnstead  in 
the  Legislature,  and  the  latter  has  represented  Colebrook. 

Seneca  Merrill,  a  younger  brother,  connected  with 
Sherbum  in  business  at  Colebrook,  where  they  have  become 
wealthy,  has  held  several  county  offices.  One  of  the  daugh- 
ters married  William  B.  Leavitt,  a  scientific  man  and 
astronomer  at  Grantham. 

IMZETO-A^I-iIP. 
Samuel  Metcalf,  after  serving  in  the  French  and  Eev- 
olutionary  armies  for  seven  years,  came  to  this  town  from 
Franklin,  Mass.,  and  settled  at  Brighton,  and  was  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  Metcalf  family  in  town. 

Dea.  Abel  Metcalf,  his  oldest  son,  settled  in  Newport, 
and  was  the  father  of  Key.  Kendrick  Metcalf,  Episcopal 
clergyman  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  and  Professor  in  the  Geneva 
College, — of  Silas,  a  successful  farmer  and  man  of  political 
note  at  Newport,  and  of  Theron,  a  popular  merchant  in 
Boston. 


124 

Capt.  Obed  Metcalf,  his  second  son,  was  active  in  town 
and  church  affairs,  was  father  of  Stephen,  a  prominent 
farmer  at  Haverhill,  N.  H.,  and  grandfather  of  Henry  H., 
a  lawyer,  and  Carlos  G-.,  physician,  sons  of  Joseph. 

Samuel  Metcalf,  his  third  son,  was  father  to  Alexan- 
der, a  wealthy  farmer  and  justice  at  Northfield,  Min.,  who 
married  Anna,  eldest  daughter  of  Col.  Nathaniel  Wheeler, 
and  grandfather  of  Samuel  Metcalf  Wheeler,  a  distin- 
guished lawyer  at  Dover,  N.  H. 

Samuel  Morse,  Esq.,  a  native  of  Dublin,  N.  H.,  grad- 
uated at  Dartmouth  College  in  1811,  and  studied  law  with 
Hon.  Geo,  B.  Upham,  of  Claremont.  He  came  to  Croydon 
in  1815,  and  opened  the  first  and  only  law  office  ever  in 
town.  He  was  Representative  for  the  year  1834,  and  a 
delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  in  1850.  He 
died  Jan  1,  1865,  aged  81  years. 

IsTELSOHSr. 
John    Nelson,  one  of   the  early  settlers,  lived  on  the 
turnpike  north  of  Four  Comers;  was  intrusted  to   some 
extent  with  the  management  of  town  affairs,  and  has  many 
descendants. 

USTEAATTOnsr. 
Phineas  Newton,  one  of  the  early  settlers,  lived  in  the 
famous  "  Old  Stone  House,"  on  the  glebe  lot  south  of  the 
original  Whitman  Jacobs  place. 


125 

Jeremiah  Newell,  one  of  the  early  comers  to  Croydon, 
settled  at  Eyder  Corner,  and  was  an  extensive  farmer,  tidy, 
energetic  and  proud.  His  '^Hach"  the  first  in  town,  was 
an  object  of  great  interest  to  the  "little  folks."  He  was 
father  to  Jeremiah,  who  was  for  a  long  time  a  popular 
sheriff  at  Newport, — of  PArker  N.,  merchant  at  Newport, 
and  now  at  Princeton,  111., — of  Benjamin,  merchant 
and  speculator,  also  at  Princeton,  HI.,  and  grandfather  of 
Thankful  M.,  daughter  of  David,  a  lady  of  uncommon 
energy  and  business  talent — late  wife  of  Shepherd  L.  Bow- 
ers, Esq.,  of  Newport. 

Elisha  and  Simeon  Partridge  came  from  Franklin, 
Mass.,  and  were  among  the  first  settlers.  The  former  married 
a  sister  of  Timothy  Winter  and  settled  on  Winter  Hill. 
The  latter  settled  on  the  B.  Brown  place,  near  the  Flat. 
They  were  valuable  citizens,  and  occupied  honorable  posi- 
tions in  town. 

Elisha  Partridge,  son  of  Elisha,  is  a  farmer,  and  has 
much  musical  talent. 

Luke  Paul,  son  of  Daniel,  came  into  Croydon  at  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  and  married  Sally  Cooper,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Cooper,  and  settled  on  the  "  old  Gibson  farm,"  on 
Baltimore  Hill,  and  was  an  enterprising  and  prosperous 
farmer. 


126 

:PE:E?.iciiTS. 

Marshall  Perkins,  son  of  James  Perkins — who  came 
to  Croydon  from  Leominster,  Mass.,  in  1815,  and  built  the 
grist-mill,  saw-mill  and  carding-machine  at  the  Flat,  and 
who  was  for  many  years  a  successful  business  man — was  born 
May  13,  1823.  He  studied  medicine  and  graduated  at 
Cambridge  Medical  College,  in  1850,  at  the  head  of  his 
class.  He  soon  after  settled  at  Marlow,  N.  H.,  where  he 
now  resides,  and  is  doing  a  successful  business.  He  married 
a  daughter  of  Amos  Fisk,  Esq.,  the  leading  merchant  of 
Marlow.  He  was  for  three  years  during  the  war  Assistant 
Surgeon  in  the  14th  Regt.  N.  H.  Vols. 


IPTJTIsr^Iiyi:. 

David  Putnam  and  Caleb  Putnam  came  to  this  town 
from  Sutton,  Mass.,  among  the  early  emigrants,  and  settled 
on  the  south-east  slope  of  the  Pinnacle,  in  a  locality  long 
known  as  the  "  Salt  Box."  They  were  noted  for  a  hardy 
constitution  and  great  industry. 

Solomon  Putnam,  son  of  Dea.  David  Putnam,  and 
Peter  Putnam,  son  of  Caleb  Putnam,  though  not  much  in 
office,  were  among  our  most  worthy  farmers. 

Charles  Putnam,  son  of  Solomon,  remained  on  the 
homestead,  and  is  an  extensive  and  thriving  farmer. 

John  Putnam,  son  of  Dea.  David  Putnam,  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  the  town,  and  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  was 
bom  November  11, 1797.  He  is  one  of  the  most  intelligent, 
respected,  industrious  and  energetic  farmers  in  town.     He 


127 

has  reared  a  large  and  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  educated 
families  in  Croydon.  He  has  always  remained  at  the  old 
homestead  ;  he  has  been  Selectman  and  Representative. 

John  Woodbtjky  Putnam,  eldest  son  of  John  Putnam, 
Esq.,  born  April  6,  1819,  is  a  man  of  excellent  judgment 
and  decision  of  character.  After  operating  as  a  farmer  in  his 
native  town,  and  going  to  the  recent  war,  where  he  held  the 
position  of  Captain,  he  has  sold  out  and  removed  to  New 
York.  He  is  located  on  the  Hudson  Eiver  about  sixty 
miles  above  the  city  of  New  York,  on  a  large  farm  belonging 
to  his  brother-in-law,  Timothy  C.  Eastman. 

James  W.  Putnam,  son  of  John  Putnam,  Esq.,  was 
bom  December  15,  1822.  He  pursued  his  preparatory 
studies  at  Kimball  Union  Academy,  and  graduated  at 
Norwich  University.  He  received  his  theological  training 
at  Clinton  Seminary,  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  then  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Rev.  T,  J.  Sawyer.  In  1848  he  received  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  Universalist  denomination  at  the  New  Hampshire 
State  Convention,  and  in  1849  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  the 
first  Universalist  society  of  Dan  vers,  Mass.,  where  after  a 
life  of  much  usefulness  and  ever-increasing  popularity,  he 
died  November  3,  1864.  He  had  charge  of  the  public 
schools  in  his  town  for  many  years,  and  was  several  times 
elected  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  in  which 
body  he  took  a  very  prominent  and  honorable  stand. 

Fbanklin  Putnam,  son  of  John  Putnam,  Esq.,  was  born 
September  8,  1833;  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College  in  1859; 
studied  law  with  Brown  &  Sewell,  at  Bath,  Me.,  and  com- 
menced the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
in  1861,  where  he  died  November  3,  1865. 


128 

Nathaniel  French  Putnam,  fourth  son  of  Jolin  Put- 
nam, Esq.,  was  born  February  2,  1839.  He  graduated  at 
Bowdoin  College  in  1863;  entered  the  General  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York,  November,  1863,  graduated  June, 
1866;  was  ordained  Deacon  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  at  Claremont,  May  27,  1866,  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Carlton  Chase,  D.  D,,  Bishop  of  New  Hampshire,  and  took 
charge  of  St.  John's  Church,  Poultney,  Vt.,  July  1,  1866. 

Geoege  Frederick  Putnam,  youngest  son  of  John 
Putnam,  Esq.,  was  born  November  6,  1841;  received  his 
literary  training  at  Norwich  University,  and  studied  law 
with  N.  B.  Felton,  Esq.,  of  Haverhill,  N.  H.,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1866. 

Ellen  Putnam,  youngest  daughter  of  John  Putnam, 
Esq.,  a  fine  scholar  and  successful  teacher,  married  N.  B. 
White,  Esq.,  a  lawyer  at  Omaha,  Nebraska. 

Austin  Putnam,  M.  A.,  son  of  Samuel  and  Susan 
Gibson  Putnam,  and  grandson  of  Caleb  Putnam,  was 
born  March  6,  1809.  After  pursuing  his  studies  in  the 
district  school  and  at  Newport  Academy,  he  entered  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1825.  At  the  close  of  his  second  year, 
circumstances  led  him  to  relinquish  his  plan  of  a  full  colle- 
giate course,  and  he  soon  after  commenced  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  Hon.  F.  A.  Tallmage  and  Charles  F.  Grim, 
Esqrs.,  of  New  York  City,  and  completed  it  in  the 
office  of  Hon.  John  P.  and  J.  Newland  Cushman,  Esqrs.,  of 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  at  the  Law  School  at  Litchfield,  Conn. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Utica,  in  July,  1831.  He 
immediately  commenced  practice  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  with  highly 


XjiXx^^^  \)   VX\ 


\AJ 


129 

encouraging  prospects.  But  after  spending  a  short  time  in 
his  profession,  he  experienced  a  total  change  in  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  religion.  At  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
call  of  duty  he  left  the  profession  which  he  had  chosen,  and 
which  he  loved,  and  commenced  the  study  of  theology,  under 
the  instruction  of  Kev.  Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  D.  D.,  of  Troy. 
He  was  ordained  at  Lowville,  N.  Y.,  in  1834.  After  a  few 
years  of  successful  labor  in  New  York  City  and  at  New 
Haven,  he  was,  October  31,  1838,  installed  as  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  at  Hamden,  Conn.,  where  he  is  now 
living.  In .  1843  he  was  married  to  Caroline  W.  Northop, 
daughter  of  Gen,  Joseph  A.  Northop,  of  Lowville,  N.  Y. 
In  1844-5  he  spent  a  year  in  Europe,  traveling  over  the 
different  countries.  In  1839  he  received  the  honorary 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Yale  College.  He  has  long 
been  regarded  as  a  man  of  rare  endowments. 

Proctor  Putnam,  son  of  Hiram,  and  grandson  of  Caleb 
Putnam,  was  born  July  8, 1814.  From  eighteen  to  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age  he  followed  the  occupation  of  mason — 
the  last  four  years  was  superintendent  in  building  the  locks 
on  the  Glens  Falls  Feeder  Canal,  and  Black  River  Canal, 
N.  Y.  In  1842  he  removed  to  Lake  County,  Illinois,  and 
purchased  the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives.  The  following 
brief  statement  of  his  aifairs  will  be  of  interest  to  all  those 
who  remember  the  once  penniless  boy  of  Croydon  :  He  has 
six  hundred  acres  of  choice  land  valued  at  sixty  dollars  per 
acre,  six  hundred  of  the  finest  merino  sheep,  seventy  head 
of  cattle,  and  thirty  hogs,  besides  much  other  property.  In 
1842  he  married  Kosilla  Sargent,  of  Grantham,  N.  H. 


130 

EzEKiEL  Powers,  son  of  Lemuel  and  Thankful  Leland 
Powers — a  lady  of  uncommon  intellect — was  born  in  Graf- 
ton, Mass.,  March  27, 1745;  was  one  of  the  party  who  came 
to  Croydon  in  the  spring  of  1766,  for  the  purpose  of  survey- 
ing land  and  making  other  preparations  for  a  settlement, 
and  settled  here  the  following  year.  He  was  conspicuous 
principally  on  account  of  his  great  physical  strength  and 
his  inventive  genixis.  Among  his  many  other  inventions,  he 
first  introduced  the  practice  of  "ridging"  green-sward  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  Indian  corn, — and  the  "  looped"  sled  so 
generally  used  since  by  the  lumbermen  of  Croydon,  and  the 
sheet-iron  pans  of  our  sugar-makers  of  to-day  are  of  his 
invention.  He  purchased  some  six  hundred  acres,  covering 
the  land  of  the  Bast  Village  and  the  meadows  above. 

David  Powers  and  Samuel  Powers,  brothers  of  Ezekiel, 
were  also  ahiong  the  earliest  settlers.  They  were  worthy 
citizens,  and  among  the  most  popular  and  influential  men 
in  town,  and  both  died  of  the  "  spotted  fever"  in  1813. 

Kev.  Lemuel  Powers,  also  brother  of  Ezekiel,  was  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  the  town.  He  was  born  at  North- 
bridge,  Mass.,  in  1756;  married  Abigail  Newland,  and  died 
at  Stillwater,  N.  Y.,  in  1800 — leaving  four  children.  His 
eldest  son  Cyrus  married  Lydia  Stow,  and  settled  at  Sem- 
pronius,  N.  Y.  In  1804  he  was  appointed  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  Cayuga  County,  and  in  1806  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  Judge  of  the  County  Courts,  which  office  he  filled 
with  much  ability  for  twenty-five  years.  He  died  in  1841. 
Abigail,  his  youngest  daughter,  was  bom  in  1798.  In 
February,  1826,  she  married  Millard  Fillmore,  late  President 


131 

of  tlie  United  States.  She  is  a  lady  highly  respected  toi 
her  intelligence,  dignity  and  many  Christian  virtues.  She  is 
now  a  widow,  and  resides  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Stephen  Powers,  Benjamin  Powers  and  John  Powers, 
cousins  of  Ezekiel,  were  also  among  the  first  settlers.  From 
the  foregoing  have  descended  most  of  those  in  town  who 
bear  the  name  of  Powers.  The  Powerses  were  the  most 
numerous  family  among  the  first  settlers,  and  were  distin- 
guished for  giant  frames,  great  physical  strength  and  vigor- 
ous intellects. 

Ezekiel  Powers,  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Hannah  Hall 
Powers,  was  born  in  1771,  and  was  the  first  male  child  born 
in  town.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  married  Susan  Kice, 
and  subsequently  Lydia  Lane  and  Lois  Barden,  and  had 
twenty-one  children — four  sons  and  seventeen  daughters; 
fifteen  of  the  latter  grew  to  womanhood,  and  were  charac- 
terized by  those  qualities  which  distinguish  the  Powers 
family.  Like  his  father  he  was  remarkable  for  great  phys- 
ical power.  At  the  age  of  eighty  he  weighed  265  pounds. 
He  had  a  great  memory,  and  was  a  lover  of  fun. 

Maj.  Abu  ah  Powers,  son  of  Ezekiel  Powers,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  the  town,  was  a  man  instinctively  inclin- 
ed to  leisure  and  social  enjoyments.  He  was  a  Major  in  the 
war  of  1812.  He  was  well  educated,  and  had  a  ready  judg- 
ment, and  hence  was  enabled  to  fill  the  offices  of  Justice, 
Selectman  and  Kepresentative  with  much  credit  to  himself. 
He  was  the  greatest  story-teller  the  town  ever  produced, 
with  the  exception  perhaps  of  his  uncle,  Abijah  Hall,  the 
father  of  Capt.  Amasa  Hall.    With  him,  as  with  James 


132 

and  other  members  of  the  fkmily,  in  his  ^ast  days  his  mem- 
ory was  remarkably  clear  and  retentive.  He  could  recall 
with  the  utmost  vividness  all  the  incidents  of  his  life,  and 
after  reading  a  book  could  repeat  it  word  for  word. 

Elias  Powers,  son  of  the  preceding,  one  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements,  is  a  man  of  intelligence,  a  respect- 
ed farmer,  and  has  many  of  the  characteristics  of  his 
father. 

James  Powers,  son  of  Ezekiel  Powers,  senior,  was  an 
extensive  dealer  in  stock  and  other  property;  was  a  sheriff, 
a  ready  wit,  and  a  natural  poet. 

Obed  Powers,  son  of  Col.  Samuel  and  Chloe  Cooper 
Powers,  was  born  April  20i,  1788.  Like  most  boys  in 
those  early  days,  he  received  only  from  three  to  four  weeks 
schooling  each  winter.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  remov- 
ed to  Cornish.  In  addition  to  being  an  active  and  thriving 
farmer,  he  has  been  extensively  engaged  in  stone  masonry 
— superintending  in  New  York  and  Vermont,  as  well  as  his 
own  State,  some  of  the  largest  and  most  difficult  under- 
takings, February  10,  1814,  he  was  married  to  Cynthia 
Cummings;  and  in  1864  was  celebrated  their  golden  wed- 
ding. They  had  five  children,  all  thoroughly  educated  at 
Meriden,  and  all  successful  teachers.  The  youngest  daugh- 
ter, Marion  W.,  has  a  decided  talent  for  poetry,  was 
assistant  teacher  at  Meriden,  and  is  now  at  the  head  of  the 
female  department  of  an  institution  at  Sydney,  Ohio. 

Solomon  L.  Powers,  brother  of  the  above,  after  following 
the  business  of  stone-mason  at  Baltimore  and  elsewhere. 


133 

finally  became  an  extensive  farmer  at  Gettysburg,  Pa. ;  and 
during  the  famous  battle  a  portion  of  the  rebel  army  was 
stationed  in  his  yard.  His  brothers,  Ara  .and  Laenard,  were 
successful  farmers.  The  former  died  at  Charlestown  in  1865, 
leaving  quite  a  fortune. 

Samuel  Powers,  son  of  Col.  Samuel  Powers,  a  merchant 
and  practical  surveyor,  had  much  native  talent.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  successful  teachers;  had  a  clear  intellect  and 
a  decided  military  genius,  which  was%iuch  improved  by  a 
thorough  training  at  Norwich  University.  Few  are  the  men 
who  have  more  of  the  elements  of  popularity  about  them, 
or  who  have  been  more  a  favorite  with  their  townsmen. 
Full  of  promise,  he  died  in  1828,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
three, 

Erastus  B.  Powers,  son  of  Larnard  and  Ruby  Barton 
Powers,  and  grandson  of  Samuel  Powers,  fitted  for  college 
at  Meriden;  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  and  at  the 
Law  School  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1866.     As  a  scholar  he  ranked  high  in  his  classes. 

Merritt,  Lemuel  and  Henry  Powers,  sons  of  Zadock, 
and  grandsons  of  Ezekiel  Powers,  were  clergymen  in  Ver- 
mont, 

Haven  Powers,  son  of  Cyrus  and  Lydia  Stow  Powers? 
and  grandson  of  Rev,  Lemuel  Powers,  was  born  in  1817. 
After  spending  several  years  with  his  friends  on  a  farm  in 
Croydon,  he  studied  law  and  settled  at  Milwaukie,  Wis. 

Timothy  Gilman  Powers,  son  of  Timothy,  and  grand- 
son of  Dea.  Stephen  Powers,  is  an  intelligent  farmer  and 


134 

man  of  influence,  residing  at  the  East  Village.  Married 
Eliza  Winter,  daughter  of  Adolphus  Winter.  He  has  been 
Selectman  several  times,  and  held  many  other  offices. 

Dennis  Powers,  son  of  David  Powers,  was  born  May  24, 
1808;  graduated  from  Amherst  College,  Mass.,  in  1835,  and 
from  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  Mass.,  in  1838.  He 
was  ordained  and  settled  over  the  Congregational  church 
and  society  of  East  Kandolph,  Mass.,  December  5,  1838. 
At  his  own  request  M  was  dismissed  from  this  church  and 
people  April  15,  1841.  On  the  29th  of  September,  1842, 
he  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  church  and  society  of 
South  Abington,  Mass.,  and  remained  there  until  1850, 
when  he  accepted  an  appointment  to  an  office  under  Presi- 
dent Fillmore,  and  removed  to  the  city  of  Washington. 
He  was  for  a  time  Agent,  and  an  eloquent  advocate  of  the 
Colonization  Society.  He  is  now  laboring  again  with  the 
people  of  Abington,  Mass. 

Orlando  Powers,  son  of  Capt.  Peter  Powers,  and  on 
the  mother's  side  descended  from  Dea.  John  Cooper,  was 
born  May  5, 1810.  He  was  educated  mainly  at  the  district 
school.  At  eighteen  he  was  apprenticed  as  clerk  to  Hiram 
Smart — then  only  merchant  of  Croydon — where  he  remained 
until  April,  1832,  when  he  removed  to  Cornish  Flat — where 
he  now  lives — and  commenced  trade.  In  1837  he  was 
married  to  Cynthia  L.  Smart,  daughter  of  Joseph  Smart 
of  Croydon.  He  has  been  Town  Clerk  of  Cornish  seven 
years,  was  Representative  in  1844,  and  County  Treasurer  in 
1849  and  1850.  He  was  for  a  long  time  Postmaster,  and 
has  been  frequently  Administrator  of  valuable  estates.  He 
has  an  active  temperament,  and  a  ready  business  talent,  is 


^f^c^z^CL^!^^  {^^TA.'^^yi^^ 


135 

social  and  gentlemanly.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  re- 
bellion he  devoted  all  his  means  and  energies  to  the  raising 
of  men  and  furnishing  supplies  for  their  families.  No  other 
one  in  town  did  so  much  as  he  for  the  cause. 

David  Cooper  Powers,  third  son  of  Peter,  and  grandson 
of  David  Powers,  was  bom  June  30, 1822.  When  eight 
years  of  age  he  removed  with  his  father  to  Cayuga  County, 
N.  Y.  He  received  his  academical  education  at  Aurora; 
studied  medicine  with  his  brother-in-law,  Nathaniel  Leavitt, , 
M.  D.,  and  graduated  at  Berkshire  Medical  College  at  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.,  in  1848.  He  then  went  to  California,  and 
remained  until  1850,  when  he  returned,  was  married  to  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  Ledyard,  Esq.,  of  Wayne  County,  and 
settled  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  at  Auburn,  N.  Y. 
In  1853  he  again  went  to  California  and  remained  two 
years,  when  he  returned  and  removed  with  his  family  to 
Coldwater,  Michigan,  where  he  now  resides,  and  is  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
rebellion  he  was  appointed  Surgeon  of  the  9  th  Michigan 
Infantry,  and  acted  in  that  capacity  some  three  years. 

J.  WoODwORTH  Powers,  brother  of  Orlando,  is  an  exten- 
sive farmer  in  western  New  York. 

Jacob  Haven  Powers,  youngest  son  of  Peter,  is  a 
thriving  merchant  in  western  New  York. 

Of  the  sisters,  Mary  C.  married  Nathaniel  Leavitt,  a 
physician,  and  Cemantha  married  Daniel  Frye,  also  a  physi- 
cian at  Deering,  N.  H. 

Dr.  Horace  Powers  was  the  son  of  Urias  and  Lucy 
Powers,  and  was  bora  Oct.  27,  1807.    His  early  education 


136 

was  obtained  in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  town  and 
the  Academy  at  Newport,  after  finishing  which  he  studied 
medicine  with  Dr.  J.  B.  McGregory,  of  Newport,  and  having 
attended  two  full  courses  of  Lectures  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege under  the  noted  and  lamented  Dr.  Muzzey,  he  received 
his  diploma  of  M.  D.  at  the  Medical  College  at  Woodstock, 
Vt.,  in  the  spring  of  1832.  He  was  married  Oct.  22, 1833, 
to  Miss  Love  E.  Gilman,  of  Unity,  N.  H.,  and  settled  in 
Morristown,  Vt.,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has  one 
■  son  now  living,  H.  Henry  Powers,  Esq.,  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Vermont,  and  at  present  a  leading  lawyer  of 
his  county,  residing  in  his  native  town.  Another  son, 
George  K.  Powers,  died  in  the  army  in  Feb.,  1862. 

The  Dr.  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Morristown  twenty- 
five  years  in  succession ;  was  a  Deputy  Sheriff  many  years, 
and  in  1844  and  '43  High  Sheriff  of  Lamoille  County ; 
in  1850,  represented  his  town  in  the  Vermont  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  and  in  1853  and  '54,  represented 
Lamoille  County  in  the  Vermont  State  Senate.  He  has  also 
been  a  Director  in  the  Lamoille  County  Bank  for  many 
years ;  in  1865,  being  out  of  health,  he  retired  from  the  most 
extensive  and  lucrative  practice  in  his  county. 

Urias  Powers,  son  of  Urias  Powers,  was  born  May  12, 
1791;  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1818;  pursued  a 
theological  course  at  Andover,  Mass.;  ordained  in  1823;  and 
after  preaching  in  South  Carolina  and  Virginia,  he  became 
connected  by  marriage  with  the  family  of  a  wealthy  planter 
and  settled  at  Big  Lick,  Va.  He  voluntarily  emancipated 
his  slaves.  The  rebellion  dealt  harshly  with  his  once  large 
fortune.  He  was  the  first  native  of  Croydon  who  received  a 
collegiate  education. 


137 

JosiAH  W.  Powers,  son  of  the  late  Urias  Powers,  was 
born  June  19,  1799.  He  entered  Dartmouth  College,  but 
before  completing  the  full  course,  he  left  and  entered  the 
Theological  Institution  at  Andover,  Mass.,  where  he  grad- 
uated. After  being  ordained,  he  preached  at  Kingston, 
Mass.  and  at  Kennebunk,  Me,  In  1839  he  accepted  an 
agency  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  soon  after  reach- 
ing Ohio,  the  field  of  his  labor,  was  called  to  his  rest. 

Gershom  Powers,  son  of  the  late  John  Powers,  was  born 
June  11,  1789.  His  early  advantages  were  quite  limited 
— denied  even  the  advantages  of  a  common  school.  His 
parents  being  too  poor  to  furnish  other  means,  his  books  were 
read  and  pondered  by  the  uncertain  light  of  the  ^^ fore-stick." 
A  lameness  iu  his  right  arm  induced  him  to  leave  the  farm 
and  turn  his  attention  to  law,  the  study  of  which  he  com- 
menced at  Sempronius  in  1810.  After  completing  his 
course,  he  opened  an  office  at  Auburn,  and  was  popular  and 
successful  in  his  practice.  He  was  appointed  Assistant  Jus- 
tice of  the  Cayuga  County  Court,  and  after  three  years  ser- 
vice in  that  capacity  was  elevated  to  the  position  of  County 
Judge.  Jan.  30,  1826,  he  was  appointed  to  the  control  of 
the  Prison  at  Auburn,  and  under  his  management  the 
"Auburn  System  of  Prison  Discipline"  became  famous 
throughout  the  United  States  and  Europe,  as  second  to 
none  on  the  globe.  In  1829,  he  was  chosen  Representative 
to  Congress,  and  declined  a  re-election  on  account  of  feeble 
health.  He  died  Jan.  25,  1831.  He  was  kind  to  his  indi- 
gent relatives,  beloved  by  all,  and  died  a  Christian. 

William  Powers,  an  elder  brother  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  in  1786,  and  his  means  of  education  were   similar  to 


138 

those  of  his  brother.  He  was  assistant  keeper  of  the  prison 
at  Auburn,  N.  Y.  Having  drawn  a  superior  plan  of  a  pris- 
on, he  was  employed  by  the  government  of  Canada  West  to 
superintend  the  erection  of  a  penitentiary  at  Kingston,  and 
in  May,  1835,  was  appointed  Deputy  Warden  of  said  prison. 
He  is  now  an  extensive  farmer  in  western  New  York.    . 


John  Kawson,  from  whom  have  descended  the  Kawsons, 
settled  under  the  mountain,  near  the  P.  Barton  place. 


Moses  Keed,  the  father  of  the  Reeds,  was  among  the 
early  settlers,  and  was  a  cloth  dresser  at  the  Flat. 

Hon.  Charles  Rowell,  son  of  Lemuel  Rowell,  remov- 
ed from  "Ryder  Corner"  to  Allenstown,  N.  H.,  where  he 
died  Jan.  11,  1867,  aged  82  years.  He  was  intrusted  with 
many  civil  ofl&ces.  He  was  Selectman  of  his  town  twenty- 
four  years.  Justice  of  the  Peace  about  the  same  number  of 
years,  a  Representative  to  the  State  Legislature  four  years. 
County  Treasurer  two  years,  and  State  Senator  two  years. 
He  had  been  an  earnest  and  consistent  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist E.  Church  for  fifty-eight  years. 

Edmund  Rowell,  a  brother  of  the  preceding,  studied 
medicine  and  settled  in  Merrimac  County,  where  he  died 
young. 


139 

Franklin  Kowell,  and  Christopher  Kowell,  sons  of 
David  Eowell — both  men  of  decided  genius — are  among  the 
most  successful  artists  in  Boston. 

Edmund  Kowell,  son  of  Sherburn  Rowell,  is  a  success- 
ful trader  at  New  London,  Conn. 


Elisabeth  Eumble,  a  spinster,  was  noted  for  her  great 
age — a  hundred  years — and  her  many  eccentricities.  At  the 
trout-brook  she  was  the  rival  of  the  famous  Isaak  Walton. 


JoTHAM  Ryder  came  early  to  Croydon,  and  settled  in 
the  south-east  corner  of  the  town,  and  from  him  and  his  con- 
nections the  place  has  always  since  been  known  as  "  Ryder 
Corner." 

Asa  Ryder,  son  of  Jotham  Ryder,  studied  medicine  with 
Alexander  Boyd,  of  Newport,  graduated  at  the  medical 
department  at  Hanover,  and  settled  at  Alstead,  N.  H.,  where, 
after  two  years  of  practice,  he  died. 

Daniel  Ryder,  son  of  Jotham  Ryder,  was  bom  Dec.  29, 
1803.  He  married  Sarah  Greorge,  and  remains  under  the 
paternal  roof,  at  Ryder  Corner.  He  has  long  been  noted 
for  the  excellence  of  his  stock  and  produce.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  and  worthy  farmers  in  town,  and  is 
esteemed  a  man  of  superior  judgment.  He  was  one  of  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  is  the  father  of  William 
W.  and  David  E.  Ryder. 


140 

Elijah  Ryder,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Cele- 
bration, son  of  Jotham  Ryder,  Jr.,  is  a  worthy  farmer,  and 
has  attained  quite  a  celebrity  as  a  teacher,  both  of  schools 
and  penmanship. 


Isaac,  John,  Phineas,  Lydia,  Elizabeth  and  Phebe 
Sanger  came  to  Croydon  in  1770,  and  were  regarded  as  an 
important  accession  to  the  town.  The  brothers  had  families, 
tte  sisters  were  unmarried.  Their  descendants  are  charac- 
terized by  a  great  fondness  for  books  and  the  remarkable 
facility  with  which  they  acquire  literary  and  scientific  knowl- 
edge. Very  many  of  the  distinguished  sons  of  Croydon  are 
proud  to  trace  their  lineage  from  the  Sangers.  John  and 
Phineas  left  town.  Isaac  died  of  the  heart  disease,  while 
crossing  Croydon  Mountain  in  1780,  leaving  three  daughters 
— one  of  whom  married  Barnabas  Cooper,  and  another 
William  Gibson. 

Lydia  married  John  Powers,  and  Phebe  married  a  Mr. 
Noyes.  Elizabeth,  or,  as  everybody  called  her,  "  Aunt 
Lizzy,"  remained  single,  and  was  really  one  of  the  best  speci- 
mens of  an  old  maid  the  world  has  ever  produced.  Turning 
instinctively  away  from  all  allurements  to  matrimony,  she 
preferred  to  remain, 

"  In  mnulen  fancy  free." 

She  was  "an  angel  of  mercy,"  and  "went  about  doing 
good."  She  seemed  to  be  everywhere  present  when  needed 
— chiding  the  erring,  comforting  the  sick,  helping  the  needy, 
and  cheering  the  desponding.  The  memory  of  "  that  good 
woman"  is  cherished  with  lively  interest  by  all  the  early  set- 


.     141  • 

tiers  of  Croydon.  But  tradition  says  she  had  her  one  fault 
— she  was  a  firm  believer  in  witches.  Many  an  urchin  has 
feared  going  to  bed  alone,  after  listening  to  her  wonderful 
tales  of  ghosts  and  hobgoblins.  She  lived  to  a  good  old  age, 
and  went  to  her  rest  with  many  benedictions.  God  bless 
her. 


Alvin  Sargent,  son  of  Capt.  John  Sargent,  is  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Baptist  order,  now  living  at  Holderness,  N.  H. 
He  has  been  several  times  a  member  of  the  Legislature. 

Joseph  Sargent,  a  brother  of  the  above,  married  Lucin- 
da,  daughter  of  Benj.  Skinner,  Esq.  For  a  while  he  was 
engaged  as  high-school  teacher.  He  studied  theology,  and 
became  a  Universalist  clergyman — was  quite  talented.  He 
was  Chaplain  in  the  army,  and  died  in  the  service. 


William  Sherman  came  to  Croydon  from  Barre,  Mass., 
in  1797,  and  died  Feb.  19,  1855,  aged  79  years,  leaving  a 
large  family.  He  is  remembered  *as  an  upright  farmer.  Of 
him  it  might  be  said,  as  of  one  of  old:  "  Behold  an  Israelite 
indeed,  in  whom  there  is  no  guile."^ 


Hiram  Smart,  son  of  Caleb  Smart,  for  a  long  time  a  lead- 
ing man  and  popular  merchant  in  town,  married  Harriet, 
daughter  of  Capt.  William  Whipple,  and  he  subsequently 
removed  to  Nashua,  N.  H.,  where  he  died. 


142 

Hiram  Smart,  son  of  the  preceding,  has  been  a  Repre- 
sentative from  Plaistovv  in  the  Legislature,  a  School  Commis- 
sioner, and  Register  of  Deeds  for  Rockingham  County,  and 
is  now  in  the  Boston  Custom  House. 


Q-ARDNER  Stewart,  son  of  John  Stewart — an  early  set- 
tler on  Winter  Hill — married  Sarah,  daughter  of  James 
Powers.  He  has  been  a  successful  financier.  He  now 
resides  at  Plainview,  Min. 


STIiTSOIsr. 

Rev.  Robert  Stinson,  a  Universalist  clergyman  of  most 
blameless  life,  -was  connected  with  the  society  in  Croydon  at 
the  time  of  his  appointment  as  Chaplain  of  the  Sixth  Reg. 
N.  H.  Vols.,  and  died  much  lamented,  soon  after  his  return, 
from  the  army. 


stook:"wex_,Xj. 

David  Stock  well  was  born  in  1748.  He  came  from 
Sutton,  Mass.,  to  Croydon,  in  1772.  He  was  a  farmer, 
served  honorably  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  died  July 
16,  1824.  All  by  the  name  of  Stockwell,  who  have  origin- 
ated in  Croydon,  have  descended  from  him. 

Stillman  Stockwell,  son  of  G-iles,  and  grandson  of 
David  Stockwell,  removed  to  the  West,  where  he  has  become 
a  wealthy  farmer. 


143 

STOVsT. 

Jonah  Stow,  from  whom  have  descended  the  Stows, 
married  Lydia  Powers,  and  came  early  ^to  this  town  from 
Stockbridge,  Mass.,  with  his  four  sons,  Peter,  Asaph,  Solo- 
mon and  Jonah,  and  long  occupied  "  Stow  Hill,*'  now 
Brighton.  His  eldest  daughter,  Judith,  married  Whipple 
Haven,  a  brother  of  Eev.  Jacob  Haven;  his  second,  Lydia, 
married  Hon.  Cyrus  Powers,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  President 
Fillmore,  and  his  third  daughter,  Prudence,  married  Paul 
Jacobs,  Esq.,  of  Croydon. 

Peter  Stow,  a  sterling  farmer,  married  Deborah  Nettle- 
ton,  of  Newport,  and  was  the  father  of  the  Kev.  Dr.  Stow, 
of  Boston,  and  Koyal  P.  Stow,  former  Clerk  of  the  U.  S. 
House  of  Eepresentatives.  While  in  town  he  held  many 
important  civil  and  military  ofl&ces. 

Baron  Stow,  D.  D.,  eldest  son  of  Peter  and  Deborah  Stow, 
and  grandson,  by  his  father's  side,  of  Jonah  and  Lydia  Stow, 
and  by  his  mother's,  of  Jeremiah  and  Love  Nettleton,  was 
born  in  the  westerly  part  of  Croydon,  June  16, 1801.  In 
September,  1809,  his  parents  removed  to  Newport,  where 
for  a  few  years  he  had  the  advantages  of  a  good  common 
school,  under  the  tuition  of  such  excellent  teachers  as 
Benjamin  Cummings  and  William  R.  Kimball,  of  Cornish; 
Austin  Corbin,  William  A.  Chapin,  Moses  Chapin  and 
Carlton  Hurd,  of  Newport,  and  Samuel  Blanchard,  of 
Croydon.  In  December,  1818,  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  and  soon  com- 
menced preparation  for  the  work  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry,   pursuing   classical   studies,   at  first  with  the  Rev. 


144 

Leland  Howard,  of  Windsor,  Vt.,  but  mainly  at  the 
Newport  Academy,  defraying  his  expenses  by  teaching 
winter  schools.  The  state  of  his  health  requiring  a  milder 
climate,  he  went,  hi  1822,  to  Washington,  D.  C,  and  joined 
the  Columbian  College,  entering  the  Freshman  Class  eight 
months  in  advance.  The  funds  for  the  expenses  of  his 
collegiate  course  -^ere  supplied  in  part  by  the  generosity  of 
others,  .and  the  remainder  by  giving  private  instruction. 
Among  his  pupils  were  two  sons  of  Commodore  Porter,  one 
of  whom  is  now  Admiral  David  D,  Porter,  of  the  U.  S. 
Navy,  After  graduating  with  the  first  honor  of  his  class,  in 
December,  1825,  he  edited  for  a  year  and  a  half  a  religious 
newspaper  in  Washington,  called  "  The  Columbian  Star." 
In  September,  1826,  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  L,  Skinner, 
of  Windsor,  Vt.  In  the  summer  of  1827,  he  returned  to 
New  England,  and  on  the  24th  of  October  of  the  same  year 
was  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  Middle  St.  Baptist  Church, 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.  After  five  years  of  service  in  that  place, 
he  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Bald- 
win Place  Church,  Boston,  and  was  there  installed,  Novem- 
ber 15, 1832.  In  the  spring  of  1848,  compelled  by  impaired 
health,  he  resigned  that  position,  and,  in  the  autumn, 
accepted  the  less  onerous  charge  of  the  Eowe  St.  Church,  in 
the  same  city,  of  which  he  is  still  the  pastor. 

In  1846,  Brown  University  conferred  on  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and,  in  1854,  Harvard  Uni- 
versity repeated  the  honor. 

At  three  difierent  times  in  twenty-three  years,  he  was 
elected  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  national  organization, 
now  styled  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union;  but, 
from  a  clear  conviction  that  he  had  a  vocation  from  God  to 


146 

be  a  preacher  and  pastor,  he  in  every  instance  declined  the 
appointment.  The  same  conviction  has  restramed  him 
from  listening  to  urgent  propositions  to  accept  positions  in 
Colleges,  either  as  President  or  Professor. 

Notwithstanding  imperfect  health,  he  has  performed,  in 
thirty-nine  years  of  ministerial  life,  a  large  amount  of 
service,  not  only  in  his  ecclesiastical  relations,  but  in  various 
Boards  of  Colleges  and  Benevolent  Institutions.  He  is  the 
author  of  several  books  and  pamphlets,  and  has  written 
much  for  the  periodical  press. 

In  1840,  and  again  in  1859,  his  people,  at  their  own 
expense  sent  him  to  Europe  for  tl^e  benefit  of  his  health, 
and  for  mental  improvement. 

During  his  ministry,  he  has  preached  nearly  4,500  ser- 
mons, baptized  nearly  1,000  persons,  married  nearly  1,200 
couples,  officiated  at  more  than  1,300  funerals,  and  made 
more  than  21,600  parochial  visits.  His  correspondence,  for 
many  years,  has  averaged  1,000  letters  per  annum.  In 
forty-five  years,  his  travels  at  home  and  abroad  have  exceed- 
ed more  than  100,000  miles.  His  private  journal  extends 
through  nineteen  volumes  of  manuscript,  making  more  than 
4,000  pages.  Such  an  amount  of  labor  would  have  been 
impossible  but  for  a  rigid  economy  of  time  and  a  tenacious 
adherence  to  system. 

His  father,  born  in  Grafton,  Mass.,  June  21,  1771,  died 
in  Newport,  N.  H.,  in  1816  ;  his  mother,  born  in  Killing- 
worth,  Conn.,  February  11,  1775,  died  in  Potsdam,  N.  Y., 
in  1846. 

Asaph  Stow  removed  to  Sempronius,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
enjoyed  in  a  good  degree  the  confidence  of  the  community 


146 

and  was  intrusted  with  much  public  business.  He  was  one 
of  the  messengers  to  carry  the  Presidential  Vote  to  Wash- 
ington. 

S'winsrnsrEi^TOisr. 

Benjamin  Swinnerton,  one  of  the  early  settlers,  once 
quite  a  favorite  in  town,  was  drowned^  at  an  early  age  while 
attempting  to  swim  across  the  Connecticut  River  in  com- 
pany with  an  Indian. 

to"w:n*. 

John  Town,  son  of  John  Town,  was  born  Aug.  17,  1805. 
He  was  educated  at  Newport  Academy.  In  June,  1840,  he 
was  appointed  Deputy  Secretary  of  State,  which  office  he 
held  for  four  succel^ive  years,  often  doing  the  duties  of  the 
Secretary.  He  was  elected  Register  of  Deeds  for  Sullivan 
County,  in  1851,  and  was  re-elected  in  1852, 1858  and  1854. 
He  was  often  elected  to  minor  offices.  He  was  a  teacher  by 
profession,  and  in  it  was  quite  successful. 

Vashti  Town,  sister  of  the  above,  was  educated  at  the' 
Kimball  Union  Academy,  and  commenced  teaching  in  her 
native  town.  She  was  soon  called  to  take  charge  of  the 
female  department  of  the  Norwich  Institute,  at  Norwich, 
Vt.,  where  she  remained  three  years.  She  was  then  invited 
to  Portsmouth,  Ya.,  and  after  nine  years  of  successful  labor 
in  that  place,  removed  to  the  city  of  Washington,  where  she 
has  been  mainly  occupied  in  teaching  for  the  last  fifteen 
years.  Her  occasional  contributions  to  the  press  indicate  a 
ready  pen,  and  a  high  degree  of  literary  merit. 


147 

Polly  Wakefield,  now  95  years  of  age,  the  oldest 
person  now  li\'ing  in  town,  is  the  widow  of  Maj.  Josiah 
Wakefield,  of  Newport,  and  daughter  of  Phineas  Newton, 
who  came  to  Croydon  in  1772,  from  Worcester,  Mass. 

Amos  Wakefield,  son  of  Amos  and  Chloe  Cooper  Wake- 
field, and  grandson  of  Dea.  Sherman  Cooper,  is  a  Methodist 
clergyman  at  the  West. 

Moses  and  John  Walker,  the  former  living  in  the  west 
part  of  the  town,  and  the  latter  on  the  turnpike,  were  the 
progenitors  of  the  Walkers. 

Josiah  Ward  came  to  this  town  from  Henniker,  N.  H., 
and  settled  in  the  south-west  corner  of  the  town.  He  had  a 
large  family. 

David  Ward,  the  eldest  son  of  Josiah  Ward,  a  physician, 
after  practicing  awhile  in  New  York,  and  at  Adrian,  Mich., 
removed  to  Illinois,  where  he  died.  Josiah,  Jr.,  a  lawyer, 
after  studying  his  profession,  went  first  to  Adrian,  Mich., 
"where  he  held  an  honorable  position  in  his  calling,  but  after- 
wards removed  to  Nevada,  where  he  died  in  1865.  He  was 
District  Attorney.  Alfred  married  Eandilla,  daughter  of 
Col.  Samuel  Powers,  remains  on  the  homestead  and  is  a 
worthy  and  Successful  farmer.  He  was  Kepresentative  in 
1853  and  1854.     Daniel  was  born  June   10,  1810.     He 


148 

turned  his  attention  to  medicine;  graduated  at  Castleton, 
Vt.,  in  1834.  He  married  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  Capt. 
Zina  Goldthwait,  and  settled  at  Marseilles,  III.,  where  he 
has  been  highly  successful  in  his  professional  and  pecuniary 
endeavors. 


David  Warren,  the  head  of  one  of  the  three  families 
that  came  to  town  in  1766,  was  born  in  Grafton,  Mass.,  in 
1742.  He  married  Prudence  Whipple,  sister  of  Capt.  Moses 
Whipple,  and  also  to  the  mother  of  Rev.  Jacob  Haven.  Not 
long  after  their  arrival,  a  most  trying  incident  occurred: 
Mr.  W.  went  away  to  work,  the  wife  leaving  her  infant  on 
the  bed  and  two  little  ones  running  about  the  house,  took 
her  pail  and  went  out  a  little  way  to  the  spring  for  water; 
in  attempting  to  return,  she  lost  her  way,  and  the  more  she 
sought  to  regain  it  the  more  she  became  bewildered.  Fear- 
ing she  might  wander  away  and  be  lost,  she  sat  down  upon 
a  log  and  there  remained  until  her  husband's  return  at  night- 
fall, when  his  loud  outcry  soon  restored  the  lost,  anxious, 
aching-hearted  mother  to  her  sacred  little  charge. 

Prudence  Warren,  daughter  of  David,  married  Dea. 
Abel  Wheeler,  of  Newport,  and  has  several  noted  descend- 
ants. 

Daniel  Warren,  son  of  David  Warren,  Jr.,  a  Congrega- 
tional clerg}^man,  was  settled  at  Waterbury,  Yt. ;  died  at 
Lowell,  Vt. 


149     ' 

Dea.  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  son  of  Nathaniel  Wheeler, 
was  born  in  Sutton,  Mass.,  in  1753.  He  married  Mehitabel 
Haven.  He  came  to  Croydon  in  1775,  and  died  in  1840,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-seven  years.  He  settled  in  the  wilderness 
and  cleared  up  what  was  long  known  as  the  "  Wheeler  farm" 
in  the  southerly  part  of  the  town,  since  occupied  by  H. 
Jacobs.  He  was  an  extensive  and  thriving  farmer,  and  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  building  the  once  flourishing  Church  at  Northville, 
in  Newport,  and  was  a  consistent  and  worthy  deacon  of  the 
same  for  many  years.  He  was  decided  in  his  religious  views, 
and  gave  much  time  and  money  for  the  support  of  the  gos- 
pel. His  strict  integrity,  singleness  of  purpose,  and  devo- 
tion to  a  religious  life,  gave  weight  to  his  word  and  example. 

Dea.  Seth  Wheeler,  brother  of  the  preceding,  came  to 
town  at  the  same  time  and  settled  on  the  M.  C.  Bartlett 
farm,  but  subsequently  removed  to  New  York,  where  he 
died. 

CoL.  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  son  of  Dea.  Nathaniel 
Wheeler,  was  born  May  10,  1781.  He  married  Huldah 
Whipple,  daughter  of  Aaron  Whipple,  and  granddaughter 
of  Moses  Whipple,  the  honored  father  of  the  town.  She 
died  in  1833,  leaving  seven  children.  He  subsequently  mar- 
ried Lucy  F.  Freeman,  of  Lebanon,  whom  he  survived  but  a 
short  time.  There  were  no  children  by  this  marriage.  His 
farming  operations  were  extensive,  and  his  farm  and  stock 
were  always  well  cared  for  and  in  good  condition.  For 
many  years  he  kept  one  of  the  largest  and  best  dairies  in  a 
town  of  good  dairies.     He  took  an  active  part  in  military 


150 

and  political  affairs;  and  in  the  war  of  1812  was  the  first 
man  in  town  to  volunteer  as  a  private  soldier,  though  hold- 
ing a  commission  at  the  time.  He  was  Representative  in 
1816,  and  Selectman  for  a  large  number  of  years.  For  half 
a  century  he  was  a  devoted  and  worthy  member  of  Masonic 
Fraternity.  He  died  July  13,  1864,  at  Lebanon,  where  he 
had  resided  for  a  number  of  years.  His  intelligence,  and 
clear,  calm  judgment,  were  among  his  most  marked  charac- 
teristics. 

Dr.  Griswold  Whipplr  Wheeler,  eldest  son  of  Col. 
Nathaniel  Wheeler,  was  bom  at  Croydon,  Feb.  22, 1808,  and 
died  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  7, 1865.  He  pursued  his  studies 
at  Kimball  Union  Academy;  studied  medicine  with  Willard 
P.Gibson,  M.  D.,  of  Newport,  and  graduated  at  the  Medical 
Department  of  Dartmouth  College.  After  spending  about  one 
year  at  Hopkinton  and  one  at  Covington,  Ky.,  he  settled  at 
Perryville,  the  county  seat  of  Perry  County,  Mo.,  where  for 
twenty-five  years  he  was  extensively  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  and  was  the  leading  physician  and 
surgeon  for  a  large  section  of  country.  WHiile  attending  to 
his  professional  duties  he  found  time  to  master  the  German 
and  French  languages,  and  gave  much  attention  to  the 
natural  sciences,  especially  Chemistry,  Geology  and  Botany, 
to  which  he  was  passionately  devoted.  His  clear  and 
logical  mind,  and  love  of  study  and  observation,  com- 
bined with  his  great  industry,  justly  gave  him  a  high 
position  as  a  professional  and  scientific  man.  His  attach- 
ment to  country  life  was  so  strong  that  no  solicitations 
could  induce  him  to  remove  to  the  city,  and  he  declined  a 
professorship  proffered  him  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College- 


I 


151 

He  was  never  married.  A  large  share  of  his  time  and  earn- 
ings were  devoted  to  deeds  of  benevolence.  He  was  a  pa- 
triarch in  town,  beloved  and  respected  by  all,  and  died  firm 
in  the  Christian  faith. 

William  Plummer  Wheeler,  son  of  Col.  Nathaniel 
Wheeler,  was  born  at  Croydon,  July  31,  1812.  He  lived 
at  home  on  the  Wheeler  place  in  the  south  part  of  the  town 
until  he  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to 
reside  with  his  uncle  James  Wheeler  at  Newport.  He  re- 
mained there  until  1836 ;  and,  after  the  death  of  his  uncle, 
was  for  a  time  engaged  in  the  harness  making  business.  He 
pursued  his  studies  at  the  Academy  in  Newport,  and  after- 
wards at  Kimball  Union  Academy,  where  he  remained 
nearly  three  years.  He  left  there  in  1839,  and  commenced 
the  study  of  law,  which  he  pursued  at  Keene,  at  the  Law 
Department  of  Harvard  University,  and  in  Boston.  In 
1842,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  this  State,  and  soon 
after  opened  an  office  at  Keene,  where  he  has  since  been 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  LL.  B.  at  Harvard  University,  in 
1842;  and  in  185C,  that  of  A.  M.  at  Dartmouth  College. 
He  was  Solicitor  of  Cheshire  County  for  ten  years ;  and  in 
1851  was  appointed  a  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  which  he  declined.  He  has  several  times  since  been 
tendered  a  seat  upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
this  State.  In  1855,  and  again  in  1857,  he  was  a  candidate 
for  Congress  in  the  third  district.  He  was  married  in  1849 
to  Sarah  D.  Moulton,  of  Kandolph,  Vt.  He  is  a  Trustee  of 
the  State  Beform  School,  and  of  the  State  Agricultural 
College. 


152 

Edmund  Wheeler,  son  of  Col.  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  was 
bora  Aug.  25th,  1814.  He  was  educated  at  Kimball  Union 
Academy.  In  1833  he  commenced  the  harness  business  at 
Newport,  with  a  brother;  and  in  1839  bought  the  establish- 
ment and  began  for  himself.  He  carried  on  extensive  and 
successful  operations  until  1866,  when  he  sold  out  and 
retired  from  business.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  move- 
ment to  uphold  the  state  militia  prior  to  its  abandonment 
before  the  rebellion,  and  was  for  two  years  a  member  of  the 
staff  of  Gov.  Williams.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture from  Newport  in  1851  and  1852,  and  in  the  latter  year 
was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  Incorporations.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  several  important  special  committees,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  discussion  of  the  leading  measures 
before  the  house.  In  1863  and  1864  he  was  candidate  for 
County  Treasurer.  He  was  a  Director  in  Sugar  Kiver 
Bank.  In  1858,  he  erected  Wheeler's  Block  at  Newport, 
the  effects  of  which  may  be  seen,  in  part,  in  the  improved 
style  of  architecture  in  the  village  since  that  time.  In  1851 
he  was  married  to  Miss  S.  C.  Kossiter,  of  Clareraont,  who 
died  in  1856.  He  was  married  in  1863  to  Miss  Augusta  L. 
Sawyer,  daughter  of  Joseph  Sawyer,  Esq.,  of  Newport. 

John  Wheeler,  youngest  son  of  Col.  Nathaniel  Wheel- 
er, was  born  July  1,  1818.  He  had  a  clear  intellect  and 
scholarly  turn  of  mind,  but  died  young.  Once  taking  a 
decided  dislike  to  a  dissipated,  ugly  Captain,  on  board  whose 
ship  he  had  embarked  for  his  health,  he  ran  away  and  spent 
a  long  time  on  the  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez,  subsisting  as 
he  could. 

And  with  Selkirk  immortal  could  say, 
"  I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey." 


153 

Lucy  P.  Wheeler,  youngest  daughter  of  Col.  Nathan- 
iel Wheeler,  was  educated  at  Norwich  Institute  and  Kim- 
ball Union  Academy;  married  Edward  Ingham,  Esq.,  a  man 
of  superior  intellect  and  business  tact,  and  died  at  Newport 
in  1852. 

James  P.  Wheeler,  son  of  Morrill,  and  grandson  of 
Col.  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  a  boy  of  uncommon  courage  and 
daring,  was  for  eight  months  with  G-en.  Sickles  as  dispatch 
bearer.  He  was  for  a  long  time  an  inmate  of  the  "  Libby 
Prison,"  and  shared  with  others  in  the  famous  "  black  bean 
soup."     He  re-enlisted  and  died  a  prisoner  at  Danville,  Va. 

Hannah  Wheeler,  eldest  daughter  of  Dea.  Nathaniel, 
married  Nathan  Nettleton  and  removed  to  Delaware,  near 
Columbus,  Ohio,  and  is  the  mother  of  James  an  eloquent 
divine  of  the  Methodist  order,  and  Albert  the  able  editor 
of  "  The  Review,"  and  who  has  recently  been  appointed 
General  in  the  U.  S.  army. 

Mehitabel  Wheeler,  a  younger  sister,  married  Israel 
Peck,  and  is  the  mother  of  Nathaniel  W.  Peck,  clergyman, 
who  graduated  at  Middlebury  College  in  1843, 

Major  Simeon  Wheeler,  son  of  Simeon  and  Lucy 
Putnam  Wheeler,  and  grandson  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  Wheeler, 
was  born  at  Newport  in  August,  1815,  and  died  at  Demop- 
olis,  Alabama,  in  February,  1864.  He  graduated  at  Nor- 
wich University  in  1840,  and  for  some  time  after  was  en- 
gaged in  teaching  at  the  South.  He  pursued  his  legal  stud- 
ies at  Charlottesville,  Va.,  and  practiced  law  with  success  for 
a  number  of  years  at  Portsmouth,  in  the  same  State.     He 


154 

took  an  active  part  in  the  political  discussions  of  the  day, 
and  was  a  delegate  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State. 
He  was  married  to  a  lady  of  Portsmouth,  who  had  estates 
in  Alabama,  which  required  his  personal  attention,  and  soon 
after  he  removed  to  Demopolis  in  that  State,  where  he  was 
a  successful  planter  until  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was 
generous,  ardent  and  impulsive.  With  a  clear  intellect, 
active  temperament,  good  scholarship,  and  decided  opinions, 
he  had  great  influence  over  those  with  whom  he  associated. 
His  wife  survives  him. 

LiJCT  Miranda  Wheeler,  daughter  of  James  and  Kuth 
Putnam  Wheeler,  and  granddaughter  of  Dea.  Nathaniel 
Wheeler,  married  Eev.  Josiah  Swett,  an  Episcopal  clergy- 
man, now  residing  in  Burlington,  Vt. 


Moses  Whipple,  son  of  Jacob  Whipple,  was  born  at 
Grafton,  Mass.,  in  1733,  and  came  to  Croydon  in  1766,  bring- 
ing three  sons,  Thomas,  Aaron  and  Moses,  and  one  daughter, 
Jerusha.  His  was  one  of  the  first  three  families  that  came 
to  town.  Having  a  complete  mastery  of  his  passions,  well 
educated,  intelligent,  distinguished  for  energy  and  decision 
of  character,  warm-hearted,  hospitable  and  generous  to  all, 
he  was  well  calculated  to  be — what  he  indeed  was — &  father 
to  the  town.  It  is  said  of  him  that,  so  great  was  the  respect 
entertained  for  him  by  his  townsmen,  his  word  was  law 
in  all  local  matters.  He  was  elected  to  more  offices  than 
any  other  man  who  has  ever  belonged  to  Croydon.  He  was 
a  Captain  of  the  militia,  and  chairman  of  the  "  Commit- 


155 

tee  of  Safety"  through  the  Eevolutionary  struggle.  It  was 
often  remarked  of  him  by  his  contemporaries,  that  he  was 
a  Washington  in  the  sphere  in  which  he  moved.  He  was 
a  deacon  Tor  thirty  years.  In  1809  he  removed  to  Charles- 
town,  N.  H.,  where  he  spent,  with  his  eldest  son,  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  in  1814,  aged  83  years.  (See 
also  •  speech  of  Thomas  Whipple,  Esq.)  From  him  and 
Samuel  Whipple  have  descended  the  Whipples. 

Thomas  Whipple,  son  of  Moses,  married  Thankful 
Powers,  and  settled  at  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  and  raised  up 
a  large  family.  Aaron  married  Matilda  Cooper  and  settled 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  near  Coit  Mountain,  on  the 
farm  so  long  and  so  well  occupied  by  his  son  Moses  Whip- 
ple previous  to  his  retirement  to  his  present  life  of  com- 
parative leisure  at  the  Flat.     Aaron, 

"  In  fair  round  belly,  with  good  capon  lined," 

relished  a  joke. 

Benjamin,  eleventh  child  of  Moses  Whipple,  now  living 
at  Berlin,  Vt.,  is  nearly  ninety  years  of  age. 

Thomas  Whipple,  son  of  Daniel  Whipple,  and  great- 
grandson  of  Moses  Whipple,  an  intelligent  farmer  and  prac- 
tical surveyor,  has  long  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  cause  of 
education,  and  for  many  years  has  had  the  general  charge  of 
the  schools  in  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  his  place  of  residence. — 
He  has  a  well-educated  family,  some  of  them  graduates  at 
Meriden.  He  is  a  correct  business  man  ;  was  a  candidate 
for  County  Treasurer  in  1856,  receiving  the  full  vote  of  his 
party. 


156 

David  Whipple,  son  of  Aaron,  was  a  farmer  and  man  of 
good  judgment.  He  had  an  excellent  memory,  and  retain- 
ed his  faculties  almost  unimpaired  until  the  period  of  his 
death,  at  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  To  him  the  editor  is 
indebted  for  many  facts  relating  to  the  fathers  and  mothers 
of  the  town. 

Solomon  M.  Whipple,  M.  D.,  son  of  David  Whipple,  and 
great-grandson  of  Moses  Whipple,  one  of  the  first  settlers 
and  original  proprietors  of  the  town,  was  bom  July  28, 
1820.  By  the  home-lamp,  and  a  few  terms  at  Unity  and 
Lebanon  Academies,  he  prepared  to  enter  the  collegiate 
department  of  Norwich  University,  where  he  graduated  in 
1846.  He  pursued  his  medical  studies  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege and  at  Woodstock  Medical  School,  and  graduated  from 
the  latter  institution  in  1849.  The  same  year  in  which  he 
graduated  he  commenced  practice  at  New  London,  N.  H., 
where  he  still  resides,  and  where  he  is  enjoying  a  full  tide  of 
successful  business.  The  occasional  contributions  from  his 
pen  to  some  of  the  popular  medical  and  political  journals  of 
the  day,  attest  to  his  literary  merit.  Jan.  4,  1851,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Henrietta  K.  Hersey,  daughter 
of  Amos  K.  Hersey,  Esq.,  of  Sanbornton,  N.  H. 

Barnabas  C.  Whi  pple,  one  of  the  Committee  of  Ar- 
rangements— the  youngest  son  of  David,  and  grandson  of 
Aaron  Whipple,  was  born  in  1822.  He  married  Sarah 
Whitney.  He  is  an  industrious  farmer,  and  resides  with  his 
father  at  the  homestead. 

GiLMAN  C.  "Whipple,  son  of  Moses,  and  grandson  of 
Aaron  Whipple,  was  born  March  18,  1837.     He  is  a  most 


157       • 

popular  and  successful  merchant  at  Lebanon,  N.  H.  Mar- 
ried in  1864,  Clara,  daughter  of  Samuel  Wood,  of  Lebanon. 

Capt.  William  Whipple,  son  of  Samuel  Whipple,  was 
an  extensive  farmer  and  the  largest  wool-grower  in  town — 
at  times  kept  a  thousand  sheep.  He  married  Judith, 
daughter  of  Caleb  Putnam,  and  lived  on  the  farm  since 
occupied  by  T.  Gr.  Powers,  Esq.  He  died  Dec.  5,  1852, 
aged  84  years. 

William  M.  Whipple,  son  of  William,  was  born  Ausr. 
9,1817.  His  early  life  was  passed  at  the  homestead  and 
devoted  to  agriculture.  He  subsequently  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile business.  He  was  Kepresentative  from  Croydon  in 
1856.  He  removed  to  Sheffield,  Bureau  Co.,  111.  in  1857, 
where  he  has  been  engaged  in  successful  trade  and  farming 
operations.  He  is  a  man  of  fine  intellect  and  agreeable 
manners,  and  has  been  the  recipient  of  many  public  honors. 

Lynda  Whipple,  third  daughter  of  Capt.  William 
Whipple,  married  Dudley  Leavitt,  a  successful  physician  at 
West  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  whose  son  Wm.  Whipple  Leavitt 
has  been  a  Surgeon  in  the  army  and  is  now  physician  at 
Stockbridge.  '  .  •  ' 

Lucy  B.  Whipple,  the  youngest  daughter  of  William, 
married  Wm.  W.  George,  of  Canaan,  N.  H.,  a  prominent 
business  man  and  sheriff,  and  who  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  for  a  number  of  years. 

Timothy  Winter  came  to  Croydon  from  Northbridge, 
Mass.,  and  settled  near  the  Edward  Hall  place.  His  three 
sons,  Ebenezer,  Thaddeus  and  Timothy,  settled  on  Winter 
Hill. 


158 


HISTOEY 


Croydon,  in  Sullivan  County,  N.  H.,  situated  on  the  highlands  between 
Connecticut  and  Merrimac  rivers,  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Grantham, 
east  by  Springfield  and  Sunapee,  south  by  Newport,  and  west  by  Cornish. 
Area  26,000  acres.  Distance  from  Concord,  the  capital  of  the  State,  44  miles, 
northwest.  Its  surface  is  uneven.  Much  of  its  scenery  is  wild  and  pic- 
turesque. Croydon  Mountain,  extending  across  the  western  part  of  the 
town,  the  highest  elevation  in  the  county,  commands  an  extended  and 
beautiful  prospect.  The  town  is  well  watered.  Besides  the  north  branch 
of  Sugar  Kiver,  which  crosses  it  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  dividing 
it  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  it  has  several  ponds,  among  which  are  Long 
Pond,  Rocky  Bound,  Governor's  and  Spectacle.  The  soil  is  diversified, 
that  bordering  on  Sugar  River  is  rich  and  productive ;  as  we  rise  gradu- 
ally back  upon  the  hills  it  produces  excellent  grass,  wheat  and  potatoes, 
while  as  we  ascend  still  higher  up  the  mountain-sides  we  find  only  pastur- 
age and  forests,  and  these  are  overtopped  with  lofty  piles  of  granite. 

Charter.  The  charter  of  Croydon,  signed  by  Benning  Wentworth,  and 
countersigned  by  Theodore  Atkinson,  is  dated  May  31,  1763.  The  town- 
ship was  divided  into  seventy-one  shares  ;  of  which,  two  were  reserved  as 
a  farm  for  Gov.  Wentworth  ;  one,  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  in 
foreign  parts  ;  one,  as  a  glebe  for  the  Church  of  England  ;  one,  for  the  first 
minister  who  should  settle  in  town  ;  one,  for  the  education  of  youth  ;  and  " 
the  remaining  sixty-five  were  granted  to  the  individuals  whose  names  are 
annexed.  Their  first  meeting  was  held  at  Grafton,  Mass.,  June  17,  1763 ; 
their  first  meeting  at  Croydon,  Jan.  17,  1798 ;  and  their  last  meeting  Jan. 
17,  1810. 


Samuel  Chase, 
Ephraira  Sherman, 
James  Wellman, 
Antipas  Ilollan, 
Enoch  Marble^ 
Jonathan  Chase, 
Thomas  Dana, 
John  Stow, 
Moges  Cliase, 
Seth  Chase, 
Stephen  Hall, 
Daniel  Chase, 
Ephraim  Sherman,  Jr. 
John  Temple, 
Samnel  Chase,  Jr. 
Ebenezer  Waters, 
Dudley  Chase, 
Gershom  Waite, 
March  Chase, 
Phineas  Leland, 
Luke  Drury, 
Tbo.  M.  Clening, 


Solomon  Aldrldge, 
Daniel  Chase,  Jr. 
Jonathan  Aldridge, 
James  Taylor, 
Joseph  \Vliipple, 
Silas  Warring, 
Solomon  Chase, 
Benjamin  Wood, 
Caleb  Chase, 
Moses  Whipple, 
Beqjamin  Leland, 
Moody  Chase, 
Daniel  Marsh, 
Samuel  Ayers, 
Joseph  Vinson, 
Timothy  Darling, 
Jones  Brown, 
David  Sherman, 
Ebenezer  Rawson, 
Samuel  Sherman, 
James  Richardson, 
Daniel  Putnam, 


Samuel  Dudley, 
William  Dudley, 
Abraham  Temple 
Benjamin  Morse, 
James  Whipple, 
Benjamin  Morse,  Jr. 
Joseph  Mirriam, 
John  Whipple, 
Willis  Hall, 
Benjamin  Wallis, 
Silas  Hazeltine, 
Jonathan  Hall, 
Richard  Wibird 
John  Downing, 
Daniel  Warner, 
Stephen  Chaise, 

Parsons, 

David  Temple, 
Solomon  Leland, 
John  Holland, 
William  Waite. 


169 


Settlement.  In  the  spring  of  1766  Moses  Whipple,  Seth  Chase,  David 
Warren,  Ezekiel  Powers  and  others,  came  to  Croydon  from  Grafton,  Mass., 
and  made  some  preliminary  preparations  for  a  settlement.  Soon  after 
their  return,  Seth  Chase,  with  his  wife  and  child,  started  for  this  place, 
This  was  the  first  family  established  in  town.  They  arrived  June  10, 1766 ; 
and  three  days  after,  June  13,  commenced  the  erection  of  their  log  cabin. 
On  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  same  month,  Moses  Whipple  and  David  War- 
ren arrived  with  their  families.  The  next  year  Moses  Leland  and  Ezekiel 
Powers  came  to  town.  In  the  autumn  of  1768,  four  more  families  arrived . 
And  in  1769,  the  tide  of  emigration  setting  this  way,  soon  made  them 
respectable  for  numbers.     The  first  town  meeting  was  held  March  8,  1768. 

Mr.  Chase  erected  his  cabin  about  one  half  mile  S.  W.  from  Spectacle 
Pond,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Moses  Barton ;  Mr.  Whipple  on  the 
swell  of  land  between  Four  Corners  and  East  Village,  on  the  farm  of  W. 
Smith — long  known  as  the  "  Edward  Hall  place  ;"  Mr.  Warren  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Pinnacle,  near  the  cemetery  ;  Mr.  Powers  on  the  T.  Q. 
Powers  farm  near  the  East  Village,  and  Mr.  Leland  in  the  north  part  of  the 
town,  on  the  farm  of  Kimball  Loverin. 

Revolution.  The  sympathies  of  the  first  settlers  of  Croydon  were 
early  enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  Soon  after  the  battle  of  Lex- 
ington they  sent  Eleazor  Leland  and  Abner  Brigham  to  join  the  Provincial 
army  ;  enrolled  a  company  of  twelve  "  minute  men  ;"  raised  eight  pounds 
to  purchase  a  town  stock  of  ammunition ;  and  chose  Moses  Whipple,  Ste- 
.phen  Powers,  Phineas  Sanger,  Abner  Brigham  and  Joseph  Hall  a  "  Commit- 
tee of  Safety."  In  1777,  nine  men  from  Croydon  joined  a  company  of 
militia  commanded  by  Capt.  Solomon  Chase,  of  Cornish,  and  marched  to 
Ticonderoga.  Eight  men  from  this  town  joined  the  company  of  Capt. 
Hardy,  of  Hanover,  and  united  with  the  forces  of  Gen.  Stark,  at  Charles- 
town.  Capt.  Moses  Whipple,  with  a  company  composed  partly  of  men 
from  Cornish,  "turned  out"  to  stop  the  progress  of  Burgoyne.  Croydon 
maintained  its  interest  and  contributed  its  full  share  of  men  and  means 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  The  following  is  an  ifaiperfect  list  of  those  cit- 
izens of  Croydon  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  army : 


Bazaleel  Barton, 
Benjamin  Barton, 
Aljner  Brigham, 
Cornel  Chase, 
Jolin  Cooper,  (Jr.) 
Joel  Cooper, 
Sherman  Cooper, 
Ezra  Cooper, 
Benjamin  Cutting, 
Jonas  Cutting, 
John  Druce, 
Amos  Dwinnell, 
Enoch  Emerson, 
Daniel  Emerson, 
Timothy  Fisher, 
Ezra  Ilall, 
Edward  Hall,  Jr., 
Amos  Hagar, 
Bazaleel  Uleason, 


James  How, 
Abijah  Hall, 
James  Hall, 
Joseph  Hall, 
Samuel  B.  Hall, 
Eleazer  Leland. 
Rufus  King, 
Rufus  Kempton, 
Phineas  Newton, 
Stephen  Powers, 
Urias  Powers, 
David  Powers, 
Samuel  Powers,    . 
Caleb  Putnam, 
David  Putnam, 
Jacob  Hall, 
Benjamin  Sherman, 
Ezekiel  Hooks, 
Daniel  Rooks, 


David  Stockwell, 
Phineas  Sanger, 
John  Sanger, 
Isaac  Sanger, 
Robert  Spencer, 
Benjamin  Swinnerton, 
Benjamin  Thompson, 
Oershora  Ward, 
Aaron  Warren, 
Moses  Warren, 
Moses  Whipple, 
Thomas  Whipple, 
Aaron  Whipple, 
Isaac  Woolson, 
Nathaniel  Wheeler,    ' 
Samuel  Whipple, 
Seth  Whooler. 


160 

War  of  1812.    The  following  is  an  imperfect  list  of  those  sons  of  Croy- 
don who  served  in  the  war  of  1812  : 

Major,  Abijah  Powers,  Tyler  Walker, 

Ensign,  Amasa  Hall,  Samuel  Powers, 

Nathaniel  "Wheeler,  Elijah  Darling, 

Charles  Cutting,  Sibley  Melendy, 

Levi  Winter,  Abijah  Dunbar, 
Isaac  Cooper, 

THE     HEBEIiLIOlSr. 

The  following  is  an  imperfect  list  of  those  citizens  who  served  in  the 
United  States  Army  during  the  Rebellion  : 

Chaplain,  Robert  Stinson, 

"        Anthony  C.  Hardy. 
Captain,  John  W.  Putnam, 

"        E.  Darwin  Comings. 
Lieutenant,  Paine  Durkee, 

"        Albert  Miner,  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks. 
Sergeant,  Oscar  D.  Allen,  wounded  at  Antietam,  killed  at  Gettysburg. 
"        Lloyd  D.  Forehand,  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks, 
"        John  Blanchard,  wounded, 
"        Hiram  K.  Darling, 
"        William  D.  Angell,  died  in  the  service. 
Corporal,  George  E.  Frye,  killed  at  Chancellorsville, 
"        Alvah  K.  Davis, 
"        Henry  H.  Haynes, 
"        Irving  D.  Tobie, 
"         Ephraim  Plimpton. 
Privates,  Alonzo  Allen,  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks, 
Thomas  Ames,  died  in  service, 
George  Angell,  Jr., 

Sanford  T.  Barton,  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks, 
Henry  Barton,  killed  in  battle, 
Frederick  J.  Burge, 
William  Bushy, 
Charles  Baggatt, 
Charles  L.  Bryant, 
Rufus  W.  Clark, 
Alonzo  C.  Crooker, 
John  Cabner, 
.  James  P.  Darling,  wounded, 

Warren  K.  Darling, 
Walter  Darling, 


161 

Privates,  George  S.  Davis,  died, 
Robert  Dinsmore, 
Leroy  Forehand, 
Stephen  G.  Ford, 
George  H.  Goodhue, 
Jeremiah  H.  Haynes, 
Charles  0.  Howard,  wounded', 
Franklin  J.  Hersey,  killed  at  Fair  Oaks, 
Philip  Harding,  killed  at  2d  Bull  Run  battle, 
Edward  Hall, 
Hiram  C.  Hall,      . 
Charles  N.  Harridon, 
Heman  Jacobs, 
Ambrose  Jerome, 
Charles  K.  Jackson,  died, ' 
John  A.  Johnson, 
W.  Wallace  Kidder, 
Thomas  Mack, 
Abraham  Nutting, 

Elias  F.  Powers,  died  at  Poolsville,  Md.,  Feb.  17,  1863, 
Charles  S.  Patridge, 
Theodore  H.  Payne, 
Nathan  Peyton, 
Isaac  P.  Rawson, 
George  H.  Ross, 
Albert  F.  Robbins, 
John  Riley, 

Henry  H.  Stockwell,  killed  at  Fair  Oaks, 
John  G.  Stockwell,  died  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
Henry  H.  Squires, 

Charles  L.  Stockwell,  mortally  wounded, 
George  N.  Smith, 
George  Tasker, 

Austin  L.  Whipple,  died  in  service, 
Emille  Warren,  died  at  Andersonville,  Qa. 

Note. — A  few  of  the  above  were  substitutes,  and  not  actual  citizens  of 
the  town.  Twenty-five  of  them  enlisted  in  the  early  part  of  the  war,  and 
received  but  ten  dollars  bounty.  They  were  all  volunteers.  The  highest 
bounty  paid  by  the  town  was  $100  per  year.  No  citizen  of  Croydon  is 
known  to  have  deserted  from  the  army  during  the  war.  Many  of  them 
re-enlisted  and  served  two  terms. 


162 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  many  natives  of  Croydon  who  enlisted 
from  other  places  during  the  war : 

Joseph  Sargent,  Chaplain,  died  in  the  service. 

Ira  W.  Bragg,  Naval  Surgeon,  died  in  the  service. 

Sherman  Cooper,  Surgeon. 

David  C.  Powers,  Surgeon. 

Marshall  Perkins,  Assistant  Surgeon. 

Willard  0.  Hurd,  Assistant  Surgeon. 

Willard  C.  Kempton,  Assistant  Surgeon. 

Walter  Forehand,  Captain. 

Edward  Dow,  Lieutenant  of  Sharp  Shooters. 

Walter  P.  Blanchard,  Sergeant. 

Leonard  Barton,  mortally  wounded  in  battle. 

Peter  Barton. 

Hiram  E.  W.  Barton. 

Edward  W.  Collins,  Jr.,  wounded  at  1st  Bull  Run  battle. 

David  R.  Eastman. 

Marshall  P.  Hurd,  killed  at  Antietam. 

Henry  Humphry,  died  in  the  service. 

Orren  Marsh. 

Simeon  Patridge. 

Dexter  Stewart. 

Stephen  M.  Thornton. 

John  Thornton. 

George  H.  Thornton,  died  in  the  service. 

Horace  P.  Hall. 


CoNGEEGATiONAL. — The  first  church  in  Croydon  was  Presbyterian.  It 
was  organized  Sept  9, 1778.  The  following  are  the  names  of  its  members : 
Moses  Whipple,  Stephen  Powers,  Isaac  Sanger,  John  Cooper,  Joseph  Hall, 
Jacob  Leland,  John  Sanger,  Catherine  Whipple,  Rachel  Powers,  Mary 
Cooper,  Anna  Leland,  Lydia  Hall,  Hannah  Giles  and  Lucy  Whipple. 
The  first  meeting-house  was  built  in  1794.  It  was  taken  down  and  con- 
verted into  a  Town  Hall  in  1828.  The  present  church  was  erected  in  1826. 
Rev.  Jacob  Haven,  the  first  minister,  was  settled  June  18, 1787.  He  was 
minister  of  the  town  and  church  until  Nov.  5, 1805,  when  he  became  min- 
ister of  the  church  only.  He  retired  Jan.  6,  1834.  Rev.  Eli  Taylor  was 
installed  pastor  in  his  stead  June  10,  1834  and  was  dismissed  Dec.  27, 
1837.    AureliuB  S.  Swift  was  ordained  May  16,  1838,  and  left  in  1841. 


163 

Freewill  Baptist. — In  1810,  some  thirty  individuals  united  and  form- 
ed a  Freewill  Baptist  church,  with  Elijah  Watson  as  Elder ;  Eli  Davis  and 
David  Putnam  were  appointed  deacons.  It  continued  to  flourish  for  some 
time.  At  length,  it  was  given  up  and  a  larger  portion  of  its  members 
united  with  a  then  flourishing  church  at  Northville,  in  Newport. 

Univeesalist. — In  1832,  a  Universalist  society  was  formed  comprising 
some  fifty  members.  Their  meetings  were  held  in  the  town  hall,  until  1854, 
when  Paul  Jacobs,  Esq.,  built  them  a  house  of  worship  at  the  Flat. 

Calvinist  Baptist. — Many  individuals  of  this  town  have  connected 
themselves  with  the  Calvinist  Baptist  society  at  Newport  Village. 

Methodist. — Itinerant  preachers  of  the  Methodist  order  had  frequently 
lectured  in  town  and  formed  classes,  but  it  was  not  until  1853  that  a 
church  was  formed.  At  that  time  a  society,  comprising  some  thirty-six 
members,  was  organized  with  C.  H.  Lovejoy  as  preacher.  In  1854,  they 
erected  their  meeting-house  at  the  East  Village,  in  which  their  services 
are  now  held. 

Revivals. — In  1810  there  was  an  extensive  revival  in  town,  during 
which  some  one  hundred  and  twenty  individuals  professed  the  Christian 
faith.  In  1835  a  protracted  meeting  was  held,  under  the  direction  of 
Rev.  Joseph  Merrill  of  Acworth,  and  some  seventy  persons  acknowledged 
a  change  of  heart. 

S£:CSSSXOXT. 

In  1778  a  number  of  towns  on  the  east  side  of  Connecticut  River  re- 
nounced their  allegiance  to  New  Hampshire,  and  formed  a  connection  with 
the  new  State  of  Vermont.  This  led  to  a  long  and  heated  contention  be- 
tween the  seceding  towns  and  the  government  to  which  they  formerly 
belonged.  In  the  incipient  stages- of  the  controversy,  Croydon  took  no  part ; 
but  when,  towards  the  close  of  the  year,  a  convention  of  delegates  assembled 
at  Cornish,  Moses  Whipple,  Esq.,  was  appointed  a  delegate  by  this  town. 
From  that  time  until  quiet  was  restored,  the  proceedings  of  Croydon  were 
identified  with  the  eccentric  movements  of  the  revolted  district.  In  1782, 
Moses  Whipple,  Esq.,  was  chosen  to  represent  this  town  in  the  Vermont 
Legislature.  But,  before  his  arrival  at  the  seat  of  government,  the  Ver- 
mont Assembly,  brought  to  their  senses  by  a  letter  from  General  Washing- 
ton, had  resolved  that  the  western  bank  of  the  Connecticut  river  should 
be  the  dividing  line  between  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire ;  so  that  Whip- 
ple and  the  other  delegates  from  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  on  their 
arrival,  found  themselves  excluded  from  a  seat  in  the  Assembly.  This  step 
of  the  Legislature  tended  to  close  the  controversy.  The  disaffected  towns 
returned  to  their  allegiance,  and  domestic  quiet  was  restored. 


164 

List  of  Representatives,  from  1800  to  1866,  inclusive  : 


1800,  Benjamin  Barton, 

1801,  Samuel  Powers, 
1802, 

1803,  Benjamin  Barton, 

1804,  Samuel  Powers, 
1805, 
1806, 
1807, 
1808, 

1809,  Peter  Stow, 

1810,  James  Breck, 

1811,  " 

1812,  Samuel  Goldthwait, 
ISIS,  James  Breck, 

1814,  " 

1815,  Obed  Metcalf, 

1816,  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr., 

1817,  Stephen  Eastman, 
1818, 

1819,  " 

1820,  AbUah  Powers, 

1821,  "  , 

1822,  Obed  Mstcalf, 

Note." — Prior  to  1800,  Croydon  was  classed  with  other  towns  in  the 
choice  of  Representatives.  Benjamin  Barton  was  chosen  in  1795,  and 
Edward  Hall,  Jr.,  in  1797. 


1823,  Abljah  Powers, 

1824,  Amasu  Hall, 
1826, 

1826,  Carlton  Barton, 

1827,  Briant  Brown, 
1828, 

1829,  Zina  Ooklthwait, 

1830,  Carlton  Barton, 

1831,  Paul  Jacobs, 

1832,  Hiram  Smart,* 

1833,  Ziua  Goldthwait, 

1834,  Samuel  Morse, 

1835,  Paul  Jacobs, 

1836,  Alexander  Barton, 

1837,  " 

1S3S,  Joseph  Eastman, 

1839,  " 

1840,  John  Putnam, 

1841,  Calvin  Hall, 

1842,  none, 

1843,  Alexander  Barton, 

1844,  Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 


1845,  Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 

1846,  Ruul  Dorkee, 
1847, 

1848,  Lester  Blanchard, 
1849, 

1860,  none, 
1851,  Pliny  Hall, 
1852, 

1853,  Alfred  Ward, 

1854,  « 

1855,  Freeman  Crosby, 
1866,  Wm.  M.  Whipple, 

1857,  Martin  A.  Barton, 

1858,  Freeman  Crosby, 

1859,  no  choice, 
1860, 

1861,  Paine  Durkee, 

1862,  Daniel  R.  Hall, 
1863, 

1864,  Denison  Humphry, 

1865,  " 

1806,  Worthen  Hall. 


The  following 

represent  other 

Croydon : 

Solomon  Clement, 
Orra  C.  Howard, 
Amasa  Hall, 
Adolphus  Hall, 
William  Melendy, 
James  Breck, 
John  B.  Stowell, 
James  Hall, 
Zina  Goldthwait,   • 
Edmund  Wheeler, 
Levi  W.  Barton, 
Paul  J.  Wheeler, 
Henry  Breck, 
Orlando  Powers, 
Horace  Powers, 
John  L.  Marsh, 


is  an  imperfect  list  of  those  who  have  been  called  to 
towns,   and  who  received  their  political   training   in 


Springfield,  N.  H. 

Grantham,    " 

Sl>ringfield,    " 
Newport,    " 


Cornish,    *' 

Horristown,  Vt. 
Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y. 


Moses  Humphry, 
Aaron  Barton, 
Hiram  Smart,  Jr.. 
Orra  Crosby, 
Luther  J.  Fletcher, 
Joshua  B.  Merrill, 
Sherburne  Merrill, 
Alvin  Sargent, 
Charles  RoweU, 
John  Ferrin, 
Harrison  Ferrin, 
Nathaniel  Cooper, 
Alexander  Barton, 
Jonas  C.  Kempton, 
Jamea  W.  Putnam, 


Concord,  N.  H. 
Piemiont,    " 
Plaistow,    " 
Hardwick,  Vt. 
Lqwell,  Mass. 
Barn'stead,  N.  H. 
Colebrook,    " 
Sanbornton,     " 
Allenstown,    "■ 
Morristown,  Vt. 

Leon,  N.  Y. 

Ludlow,  Vt. 
Nashua,  N.  H. 
Danvers,  Mass. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Selectmen  of  Croydon,  from  1768  to  1866, 
inclusive : 


Moees  Leland, 
1768 Moses  Whipple, 

David  Warren. 

Moses  Leland, 
1769 Moses  Whipple, 

Stephen  Powers. 

Iiaac  Sanger, 
1770 Moees  Whipple, 

Stephen  Powers. 


Moses  Whipple, 
1771 Stephen  Powers, 

David  Warren. 

John  Cooper, 
1772 Moses  Whipple, 

Stephen  Powers. 

John  Cooper, 
1773 Moses  Whipple, 

Benjamin  Swinnerton. 


165 


Moses  Whipple, 
1774 John  Cooper, 

Stephen  Powers. 

Moses  Whipple, 
1775 Stephen  Powers, 

Phineas  Sanger. 

John  Cooper, 
1776 Moses  Whipple, 

Benjamin  Swinnerton. 

Moses  Whipple,- 
1777 Stephen  Powers, 

Phineas  Sanger. 

Stephen  Powers, 
1778 Benjamin  Swinnerton, 

Joseph  Hall. 

Moses  Whipple, 
1779 John  Cooper, 

Stephen  Powers. 

Moses  Whipple, 
1780 John  Powers, 

Benjamin  Powers. 

Stephen  Powers, 
1781 Pliiueas  Sanger, 

David  Putnam. 

John  Cooper, 
1782 Moses  Whipple, 

Stephen  Powers. 

Edward  Hall, 
1785 Stephen  Powers, 

Phineas  Sanger. 

John  Cooper 
1786 Edward  Hall, 

Moses  Whipple. 

Stephen  Powers, 
1787 Benjamin  Barton, 

Simeon  Partridge. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1788 Jesse  Green, 

David  Putnam. 

John  Cooper, 
1789 Benjamin  Powers, 

Ezra  Cooper. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1790 Abljah  Hall, 

John  Cooper,  Jr. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1791 David  Putnam, 

John  Cooper. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1792 David  Putnam, 

Samuel  Powers. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1793 David  Putnam, 

Samuel  Powers. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1794 John  Cooper,  Jr., 

Nathaniel  Wheeler. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1795 John  Cooper,  Jr., 

David  Putnam. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1896 Thomas  Whipple, 

David  Putnam. 

Samuel  Powers, 

1797 Simeon  Partridge, 

Peter  Stow. 


Benjamin  Barton, 
1798 John  Cooper,  Jr., 

Thomas  Whipple. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1799 Samuel  Powers, 

Simeon  Partridge. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1800 John  Cooper,  Jr., 

Samuel  Powers. 

John  Cooper,  Jr., 
1801 Peter  Barton, 

John  Nelson. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1802 Peter  Barton, 

John  Nelson. 

Samuel  Powers, 
1803 Peter  Stow, 

Peter  Barton. 

Peter  Stow, 
1804 Peter  Barton, 

Barnabas  Cooper. 

Peter  Stow, 
1805 Samuel  Goldthwait, 

Peter  Barton. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1806 John  Nelson, 

Stephen  Eastman. 

Peter  Stow, 
1807 Obed  Metcalf, 

Stephen  Eastman. 

Peter  Stow, 
1808 John  Cooper, 

Asaph  Stow. 

John  Cooper, 
1809 James  Breck, 

Asaph  Stow. 

John  Cooper, 
1810 James  Breck, 

Stephen  Eastman. 

James  Breck, 
1811 Stephen  Eastman, 

John  Humphry. 

James  Breck, 
1812 Stephen  Eastman, 

Abijah  Powers. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1813 Stephen  Eastman, 

Abijah  Powers. 

John  Humphry, 
1814 Obed  Metcalf, 

Solomon  Clement. 

James  Breck, 
1815 Benjamin  Barton, 

Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr. 

Benjamin  Barton, 
1816 Obed  Metcalf, 

Stephen  Eastman. 

Stephen  Eastman, 
1817 Abijah  Powers, 

Ezra  Gustin. 

John  Humphry, 
1818 Natlianiel  Wheeler,  Jr., 

Elisha  Partridge. 

Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr., 
1819 Edward  Putnam, 

Ziuu  Goldthwait. 


166 


Stephen  Eastman, 
1820 Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr, 

Henry  Breck. 

Nathaniel  Wheeler, 
1821 John  Humphry, 

Obed  Metcalf. 

Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr., 
1822 John  Humphry, 

Obed  Metcalf. 

Stephen  Eastman, 
1823 Samuel  Morse, 

Edward  Hall. 

Steplien  Eastman, 
1824 Abijah  Powers, 

Edward  Hall. 

Abijah  Powers, 
1825 Stephen  Eastman, 

Carlton  Barton. 

Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr., 
1826 Zina  Goldthwait, 

David  Whipple. 

Abijah  Powers, 
1827 Carlton  Biirton, 

Edward  Hall. 

Abijah  Powers, 
1828 Ciirlton  Barton, 

Hiram  Smart. 

Carlton  Barton, 
1829 Benjamin  Burton, 

John  Barton. 

Hiram  Smart, 
1830 Briant  Brown, 

John  Barton. 

Hiram  Smart, 
1831 Carlton  Barton, 

Moses  Eastman. 

Carlton  Barton, 
1832 Paul  Jacobs, 

Zina  Goldthwait. 

Hiram  Smart, 
1833 James  Hall,  Jr., 

Lemuel  P.  Cooper. 

Hiram  Smart, 
1834 Zina  Goldthwait, 

Moses  Eastman. 

Henry  Breck, 
1835 Zina  Goldthwait, 

Moses  Eastman. 

Carlton  Biirton, 
1836 Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 

Calvin  Hall. 

Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 
1837 Calvin  Hall, 

John  Putnam. 

Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr., 
1838 John  Putnam, 

Sherburne  B.  Rowell. 

Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 
1839 Calvin  Hall, 

Peter  Barton. 

Calvin  Hall, 
1840 William  C.  Carroll, 

Sherburne  B.  Rowell. 

Hiram  Smart, 
1841 Ruel  Dtirkee, 

Calvin  Kempton. 


William  C.  Carroll, 
1842 Ruel  Durkee, 

Freeman  Crosby. 

Hiram  Smart, 
1843 Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 

John  C.  Loverin. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1844 John  C.  Loverin, 

Timothy  G.  Powers. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1845 Timothy  G.  Powers, 

William  Darling. 

John  Putnam, 
1846 Josiah  Ide, 

Moses  Haven. 

Timothy  G.  Powers, 
1847 Moses  Haven, 

Ariel  Hall. 

Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 
1848 John  Putnam, 

Martin  A.  Barton. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1849 Paul  J.  Wheeler, 

Edmund  Rowell. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1850 Dellevan  D.  Marsh, 

Denison  Humphry. 

Martin  A.  Barton, 
1851 Ruel  Durkee, 

Paine  Durkee. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1852 Dellavan  D.  Marsh, 

Hiram  C.  Brown. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1853 Hiram  C.  Brown, 

Lemuel  P.  Cooper. 

John  Putnam, 
1854 Dellavan  D.  Marsh, 

Caleb  L.  Barton. 

Daniel  R.  Hall, 
1855 Otis  Cooper, 

Elias  Powers. 

Hiram  C.  Brown, 
1856 E.  Darwin  Comings, 

Martin  C.  Bartlett. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1857 Martin  C.  Bartlett, 

Welcome  P.  Patridge. 

E.  Darwin  Comings, 
1858 Dellavan  D.  Marsh, 

Albert  G.  Barton. 

Ruel  Durkee, 

1859 Nathaniel  P.  Stevens, 

.  Hiram  P.  Kempton. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1860 Nathaniel  P.  Stevens, 

Hiram  P.  Kempton. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1861 John  W.  Putnam, 

Martin  C.  Bartlett. 

Ruel  Durkee, 
1862 Nathan  Hall, 

David  E.  Ryder. 

Ruel  Durkee. 
1863 Nathan  Hall, 

WilUam  W.  Hall. 


167 


Ruel  Durkee, 
1864 William  W.  Hall, 

Daniel  Ide. 

Rnel  Durkee, 
1865 William  W.  Hall, 

JBlias  Powers. 


Ruel  Durkee, 

1866 Elias  Powers, 

Oliver  C.  Forehand. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  Town  Clerks,  from  1768  to  1866,  inclusive  : 

1768,  Moses  Whipple, 

1769,  " 

1770,  " 

1771,  " 

1772,  John  Cooper, 

1773,  " 
1774, 

1775,  Moees  Whipple, 
1776, 
1777, 
1778, 
177», 

1780,  « 

1782  f  ^**  to'"''!  Records. 

1783,  Stephen  Powers, 

1784,  " 

1785,  « 

1786,  " 
1787, 
1788, 

1789,  Jesse  Green, 

1790,  « 

1791,  " 
1792, 

1793,  " 
1794, 

1795,  Jacob  Haven, 

1796,  « 

1797,  " 

1798,  Reuben  Carroll, 
1799, 
1800,  " 


1801, 

Reuben  Carroll, 

1834, 

Jacob  Haven, 

1802, 

" 

1835, 

" 

1803, 

" 

1836, 

" 

1804, 

" 

1837, 

Benjamin  Skinner, 

1805, 

BeQjamin  Barton, 

1838, 

" 

1806, 

Reuben  Carroll, 

1839, 

" 

1807, 

Jacob  Haven, 

1840, 

41 

1808, 

" 

1841, 

Daniel  R.  Hall, 

1809, 

" 

1842, 

" 

1810, 

" 

1843, 

" 

1811, 

« 

1844, 

<< 

1812, 

" 

1845, 

" 

1813, 

" 

1846, 

" 

1814, 

" 

1847, 

« 

1815, 

Stephen  Eastman, 

1848, 

« 

1816, 

Jacob  Haven, 

1849, 

« 

1817, 

" 

1850, 

Nathan  Hall, 

1818, 

« 

1851, 

>' 

1819, 

« 

1852, 

« 

1820, 

'< 

1863, 

« 

1821, 

« 

1854, 

« 

1822, 

« 

1855, 

(t 

1823, 

« 

1856, 

" 

1824, 

" 

1857, 

" 

1825, 

" 

1858, 

« 

1826, 

" 

1859, 

" 

1827, 

« 

1860, 

« 

1828, 

« 

1861, 

Daniel  R.  Hall, 

1829, 

« 

1862, 

Dellavan  D.  Marsh 

1830, 

« 

1863, 

" 

1831, 

« 

1864, 

Nathan  Hall, 

1832, 

« 

1865, 

Dellavan  D.  Marsh 

1833, 

" 

1866, 

Alonzo  Allen. 

JTJSTIOBS    OF    OTJOHTTIiJ:. 


Benjamin  Barton,  Jr., 
Lemuel  P.  Cooper, 


John  Cooper, 
Daniel  R.  Hall, 


Paul  Jacobs, 
Ab^ah  Powers. 


JTTSTIOES    or    THE    I»B-A.CE- 


Beiijamin  Barton, 
John  Barton, 
Martin  A.  Barton, 
Solomon  Clement, 
Isaac  Cooper, 
Otis  Cooper, 
John  Cragin, 
Btiel  Durkeej 
Paine  Durkee, 
William  Dodge, 


Stephen  Eastman, 
Joseph  Eastman, 
Lyman  Hall, 
Nathan  Hall, 
Worthen  Hall, 
Henry  Hurd, 
Samuel  Morse, 
Dellavan  D.  Marsh, 
Stephen  Powers, 
Elias  Powers, 


John  W.  Putnam, 
Sherburne  B.  Rowell, 
Benjamin  Skinner, 
Hiram  Smart, 
Allen  Town, 
Moses  Whipple, 
Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Jr., 
Paul  J.  Wheeler, 
Wm.  M.  Whipple. 


168 


Croydon  has  furnished  to  the  militia  the  following  Officers:  Major 
General  Nathan  Emery.  Colonels — Jarvis  Adams,  Otis  Cooper,  Freeman 
Dunbar,  Daniel  R.  Hall,  Calvin  Kempton,  Samuel  Powers,  Nathaniel 
Wheeler,  Jr.,  and  Moses  Whipple.  Majors— Abijah  Powers,  Peter  Stow, 
Lemuel  P.  Cooper. 

Population. — The  population  of  Croydon  at  different  periods  was  as 
follows:  In  1765, 143;  1790,537;  1800,984;  1810,  863;  1820, 1060;  1830, 
1057;  1840,956;   1850,861;  1860,765. 


Valuation.— 1864,  $264,931. 

Table  showing  the  annual  number  of  births  in  Croydon,  from  1790  to 
1800,  inclusive : 

Years.    Male.  Female.  Total.  Years.     Male.  Female.  Total.  Years.  Male.  Female.  Total. 

1790  20   13   33  (1794   17   17   34  1798  26   18   44 

1791  15   19   34  !l795   21   25   46  1799  16   16   32 

1792  21   14   35  11796   26   15   41  1800  18   16   34 

1793  21   12   33  1797   24   21   45       

Total,  225    186    411 


Remaeks. — The  first  birth  in  Croydon  occurred  May  13,  1767.  It  was 
of  Catherine,  daughter  of  Moses  Whipple,  Esq.  The  second  was  of  Joshua, 
son  of  Seth  Chase,  born  October  29, 1767.  The  probable  number  of  births, 
from  1790  to  1851,  inclusive,  is  nearly  twenty-five  hundred,  of  which  more 
than  half  were  of  males. 


169 


SXXiZi   ODE*    JB.JiOK.T'AJCil'r-Sr   rOH   ODRO'SriDOIT. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  annual  number  of  deaths,  commencing 
January  1,  1790,  and  ending  January  1,  1867.  Average  deaths  one  to 
seventy-five. 


1790 
1791 
1792 
1793 
1794 
1795 
1796 
1797 
1798 
1799 
1800 
1801 
1802 
1803 
1804 
1805 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 
1812 
1813 
1814 
1815 


lild'n.  Adults,  Total. 

Yrs.    C 

Uld'n. 

Adults. 

Total. 

7 

1 

8 

1816 

9 

3 

12 

4 

2 

6 

1817 

4 

4 

8 

4 

2 

6 

1818 

5 

4 

9 

3 

6 

9 

1819 

13 

6 

19 

10 

1 

11 

1820 

10 

6 

16 

23 

1 

24 

1821 

6 

4 

10 

11 

3 

14 

1822 

10 

12 

22 

4 

4 

8 

1823 

4 

3 

7 

8 

1 

9 

1824 

2 

8 

10 

2 

6 

8 

1825 

7 

9 

16 

6 

1 

7 

1826 

8 

8 

16 

4 

3 

7 

1827 

•17 

4 

21 

5 

5 

10 

1828 

2 

7 

9 

14 

5 

19 

1829 

4 

7 

11 

10 

4 

14 

1830 

5 

2 

7 

6' 

5 

11 

1831 

4 

15 

19 

14 

6 

20 

1832 

19 

9 

28 

11 

6 

17 

1833 

2 

10 

12 

12' 

5 

17 

1834 

10 

8 

18 

4 

5 

9 

1835 

4 

9 

13 

7 

3 

10 

1836 

4 

5 

9 

5 

5 

10 

1837 

3 

7 

10 

6 

4 

10 

1838 

8 

7 

15 

12 

18 

30 

1839 

5 

10 

15 

3 

2 

5 

1840 

16 

12 

28 

5 

6 

11 

1841 

4 

12 

16 

Yrs. 

1842 

1843 

1844 

1845 

1846 

1847 

1848 

1849 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

1856 

1857 

1858 

1859 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 

1865 

1866 

Total, 


ChUd'n.  Adults.  Total. 

7 

12 

2 

5 
13 
17 
14 
14 
12 

7 

7 

8 

17 
13 
12 

7 
24 
16 

8 
10 
12 
16 
11 
17 

5 


1 

6 

1 

11 

0 

2 

1 

4 

5 

8 

7 

10 

6 

8 

7 

7 

1 

11 

1 

6 

1 

6 

2 

6 

5 

12 

1 

12 

5 

7 

0 

7 

15 

9 

3 

13 

2 

6 

3 

7 

0 

12 

4 

12 

0 

11 

3 

14 

2 
461 

3 

511 

Longevity. — An  incomplete  list  of   the  names  of  those  who  have 
attained  to  ninety  years  and  over : 


Widow  Marsh, 

90 

Widow  Giles, 

94 

Thomas  Blanchard, 

98 

Mrs.  Benjamin  Cutting, 

90 

Samuel  Marsh, 

94 

Widow  Bumble, 

100 

Widow  Clement, 

93 

Widow  A.  Stockwell, 

95 

Samuel  Goldthwait, 

93 

Mrs.  Jothain  Ryder, 

94 

Capt.  Nathan  Clark, 

90 

Lydia  Leland  Powers, 

92 

Samuel  Metcalf, 

93 

Education. — Early,  the  wife  of  Moses  Whipple,  an  intelligent  and 
worthy  lady,  called  the  children  of  the  first  settlers  to  her  house,  and  for 
years  taught  them  without  charge.  The  first  school-house,  a  small  struct- 
ure twenty  feet  square,  was  built  in  1772,  and  eight  pounds  was  raised  for 
purposes  of  education.  The  second  district  was  formed  in  1780,  and  ono 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  assessed  for  school  purposes.  From  the  begin- 
ning, Croydon  has  paid  due  attention  to  mental  culture. 


170 

Library. — The  "  Croydon  Social  Library"  was  established  in  1806.  It 
contained  many  standard  works  of  great  merit.  They  were  mainly  select- 
ed by  the  Rev.  Jacob  Haven,  who  was,  for  a  long  time,  librarian.  This 
library  has  had  a  decided  influence  in  moulding  the  character  of  the  young 
men  of  the  town.     The  inhabitants  of  Croydon  have  been  a  reading  people. 

Casualties. — In  1770,  Caleb,  son  of  Seth  Chase,  the  first  settler  in  town, 
wandered  into  the  forest  and  was  lost.  The  mother,  rendered  frantic  by 
the  loss  of  her  son,  had  she  not  been  prevented,  would  have  rushed  into 
the  trackless  forest  and  been  lost.  On  the  morrow  all  the  inhabitants 
turned  out  and  searched  the  woods  through  and  through,  but  no  trace  of 
the  darling  boy  could  ever  be  found. 

Isaac  Sanger  and  one  of  the  other  early  settlers  of  the  town,  perished 
while  attempting  to  cross  Croydon  Mountain. 

Alexander  Metcalf,  son  of  Alexander  Metcalf,  senior,  was  killed  by  the 
falling  of  a  tree.  He  was  to  have  been  married  the  next  day  to  a  lady  in 
Franklin. 

Abijah  Hall  was  drowned  at  the  "  Glidden  Bridge"  in  1812.  .  A  son  of 
Thomas  Whipple  and  a  son  of  Giles  Stockwell,  senior,  were  drowned  in 
Spectacle  Pond. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1828,  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Charles  Carroll  was  con- 
sumed by  fire  and  two  children  perished  in  the  flames. 

Dr.  Reuben  Carroll  was  thrown  from  a  gig,  in  1840,  while  going  down 
the  hill  between  Four  Corners  and  the  East  Village,  and  killed. 

Son  of  Nathaniel  W.  Brown  was  killed  near  the  Bridge  at  the  East  Vil- 
lage, in  1863,  by  the  horse  stumbling  and  falling  upon  him. 

In  1846,  wife  of  Paul  J.  Wheeler  met  a  terrible  death  by  burning — her 
clothes  taking  fire  as  she  stood  warming  herself  before  the  stove. 

Mr.  Cummings,  an  old  gentleman,  went  out  from  the  Flat  towards  Coit 
Mountain,  and  the  next  day  was  found  dead. 

A  son  of  Simeon  Ames  fell  from  a  load  of  hay  upon  the  handle  of  a  pitch- 
fork which  penetrated  his  body,  from  which  accident  he  soon  after  died  a 
most  painful  death. 

Son  of  Ira  Bragg  fell  from  the  cart-tongue  while  riding,  and  the  wheel 
running  over  him  killed  him  instantly.  Another  son  was  supposed  to  be 
murdered.  He  went  West  with  money  to  buy  a  farm,  a  man  went  out  with 
him  to  show  him  his  land,  and  neither  of  them  ever  returned. 

Ziba,  son  of  John  Cooper,  was  killed  by  the  kick  of  a  horse  which  he  was 
driving  to  tread  out  clover  seed. 

A  daughter  of  Foster  Hall  fell  into  the  river,  at  the  East  Village,  and 
was  drowned. 


171 

A  child  of  Rev.  Jacob  Haven  was  scalded  to  death  by  falling  backwards 
into  a  pail  of  hot  water. 

Asa  Kelsey,  residing  in  the  south-east  corner  of  the  town,  fell  from  a 
building  and  was  killed. 

A  son  of  Leonard  .N.  Kempton  was  drowned  in  the  mill-pond  at  the 
Flat. 

Son  of  John  Melendy  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  the  stone  chimney  of 
his  father's  dwelling. 

A  daughter  of  Robert  Osburn,  in  the  north-east  corner  of  the  town,  fell 
into  a  brook,  was  carried  under  the  causeway  and  drowned. 

A  son  of  James  Perkins  was  drowned  by  falling  into  the  brook  near  his 
father's  dwelling  at  the  Flat. 

A  son  of  Ezekiel  Powers  was  caught  between  two  logs,  while  peeling 
bark,  and  crushed  to  death. 

Willard,  son  of  Urias  Powers,  fell  from  the  "  Glidden  Bridge"  while  on 
his  way  from  school  and  was  drowned. 

A  son  of  Jotham  Ryder  was  killed  by  a  cart-body  blowing  over  and  fall- 
ing upon  him. 

Wife  of  David  Rowell  killed  by  lightning.  Her  infant  sleeping  on  her 
arm  escaped  uninjured  and  lived  to  manhood. 

Joseph  Smart  went  out  to  catch  his  horse  one  Sabbath  morning,  was 
soon  after  found  dead. 

Griswould,  son  of  Aaron  Whipple,  killed  by  running  under  an  axe 
which  was  thrown  from  the  frame  of  the  house,  at  the  raising. 

In  1861,  Edwin,  son  of  Moses  Whipple,  while  returning  from  the  Post- 
office,  at  the  Flat,  one  dark,  rainy  night,  the  string-piece  being  jarred  in 
towards  the  middle  of  the  bridge,  walked  off  and  met  a  sad  death  amid  the 
rocks  and  angry  waves  below.- 

Epidemics. — In  1795,  the  "Canker  Rash"  prevailed  to  an  alarming 
extent  among  the  children.  Of  twenty-four  deaths  that  year,  twenty  were 
under  fourteen  years  of  age.  In  1813,  the  "  Spotted  Fever"  made  its  appear- 
ance in  a  most  malignant  form,  defying  all  remedies  and  cutting  down  the 
strong  men  almost  without  warning.  Of  thirty  deaths  in  town  that  year, 
eighteen  were  from  that  disease. 

Four  Cohners. — Being  in  the  center  of  the  town  and  on  the  Croydon 
Turnpike  the  great  thoroughfare,  and  having  a  church,  tavern,  store,  and 
offices  and  shops,  the  Four  Corners  was  once  the  center  of  trade;  but  rail- 
roads diverting  the  long  travel,  and  the  want  of  water  power,  has  caused 
its  decline. 


172 

A  Wolf  Story. — Benj.  Cutting,  a  poor  man,  away  after  provisions,  was 
detained  over  night  and  the  next  day.  The  wife  and  children  were  nearly 
famished,  with  nothing  in  the  house  to  eat.  She  waited  until  the  shades  of 
evening  approached,  and  still  he  came  not.  She  then  went  down  to  the 
nearest  neighbors  to  beg  something  that  should  keep  them  from  starvation- 
She  had  hardly  reached  the  house  when  she  heard  the  wolves,  and 
thought  of  her  two  little  ones  at  home.  She  started,  and  impelled  by  all  the 
ardor  of  a  mother's  love  flew  towards  home.  A  pack  of  hungry  wolves 
were  after  her.  She  was  barely  able  to  reach  the  door,  rush  in  and  slam 
it  in  the  face  of  her  enemy.  She  secured  the  door.  They  mounted 
the  roof,  which  was  covered  with  bark.  There  was  no  chimney,  and  she 
expected  every  moment  they  would  come  down  through  the  open  space 
through  which  the  smoke  escaped.  She  caught  the  poker  and  stirred  the 
fire  with  such  violence  as  to  fill  the  space  with  sparks  and  flames.  The 
terrible  howling  and  biting  of  the  wolves  made  the  night  hideous.  When 
one  of  them  showed  his  teeth  through  an  open  space  in  the  roof,  she  would 
greet  it  with  the  burning  poker.  If  they  grew  desperate  she  would  throw 
on  the  contents  of  her  straw  bed  and  thus  increase  the  flames.  The  con- 
test was  kept  up  until  the  straw  and  wood  were  nearly  exhausted,  when 
the  wolves,  despairing  of  success,  beat  up  a  retreat  and  left  our  heroine 
mistress  of  the  field. 


Amos  Hagar,  a  man  of  great  physical  strength,  once  going  through  the 
woods  on  the  east  part  of  the  Wheeler  farm,  met  a  bear  and  threw  a  hem- 
lock knot  at  it  with  such  violence  as  to  knock  it  over  and  enable  him 
to  capture  it. 


A;necdote. — In  April,  1766,  the  party  which  came  to  Croydon  for  the 
purpose  of  laying  out  land,  discovered,  soon  after  crossing  Sugar  River, 
in  Claremont,  that  the  plan  of  the  town  had  been  left  behind.  As  the 
river,  swollen  by  rain  and  melted  snow,  was  unfordable,  and  as  the  impet- 
uous current  had  already  borne  their  temporary  raft  beyond  their  reach, 
they  hardly  knew  what  course  to  take.  At  length,  Ezekiel  Powers  crossed 
and  re-crossed  the  river  by  swimming,  bringing  the  parchment  between 
his  teeth.    For  this  feat  the  company  paid  him  a  pistareen. 


Pear  Tree. — A  pear  tree,  brought  to  town  by  Dea.  Nathaniel  Wheeler 
ninety-one  years  ago,  now  over  one  hundred  years  old,  is  still  alive  and  in 
a  good  bearing  condition. 


173 

Beae  Story.— a  bear  once  took  a  hog  from  a  yard  near  what  is  known 
as  the  Peter  Barton  place.  The  neighbors  gave  chase,  but  they  were  a 
mile  away  before  they  were  overtaken.  The  hog  was  so  lacerated  it  was 
necessary  to  kill  it.  When  dressed  its  weight  was  found  to  be  two  hun- 
dred pounds.     This  feat  exhibits  the  strength  of  the  bear. 

Dairies. — Croydon  Dairies  have  long  ranked  among  the  finest  in  market. 

Negroes. — Early  in  the  history  of  the  town  a  colony  of  negroes  planted 
themselves  on  Coit  Mountain  and  its  eastern  vicinity.  Among  them  were 
Salem  Colby,  Robert  Nott  and  Scipio  Page.  They  have  long  since  disap- 
peared. 


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